No More Distance
by ForbiddenSweets
Summary: Whether he realized or not, becoming Lissa's bodyguard was probably the best thing that ever happened to him. Lissa/Lon'qu *SPOILERS*
1. Gynophobia

A/N: I recently bought Awakening, and I am now completely obsessed with it. The moment Lon'qu was recruited, I knew I was going to have him marry Lissa. The lack of fanfics and fanart of them kind of upsets me, so I'm going to be writing a few short stories about them! I like the idea of Lon'qu being Lissa's bodyguard. Plus, this gives him a chance to get over his gynophobia because he is constantly around her, and she's really pushy and stuff.

Basically, I just think that this ship is plain cute, and they need more luurrrveeee.

Anyways, these chapters will probably be pretty short just like this one. A few of the chapters will be directly based on their support conversations (like this one), but there will also be stuff in between those conversations and stuff and yeah. Just these two cuties being cute and warming up to each other.

* * *

**Gynophobia**

Lon'qu has no qualms about following orders.

"He gives orders, I stab people. I think our roles are clear, " he nonchalantly said the day he was recruited.

He had no problems with being a bodyguard. But being a bodyguard for a _girl_? This could not end well. However, it was orders from Chrom. If he asked him to be his sister's bodyguard, he couldn't possibly say no to the prince. Orders are orders. He reluctantly walked to camp to find Lissa. Upon entering, Lissa quickly twirled around and flashed her signature grin.

"There you are Lon'qu! I take it that my brother talked to you?"

"Er..." Lon'qu was at a loss for words. _What am I supposed to– How am I supposed to talk to her? What should I say? _

Lissa quickly caught on to the situation and realized how uneasy he felt. She scowled at him, "Oh. stop it! Yes, I'm a girl, but it's your job to guard me!" The princess took a few small steps forward and continued, "So no more running away and being weird. All right?"

Taken aback by her sudden assertiveness, he grunted. Uneasy, the black-haired myrmidon quickly changed the subject, "Chrom said there was a plot on your life. Is this accurate?" he asked.

She frowned and slouched down a bit, "Yeah, I guess someone wants my sweet little head on a platter. Don't ask me why!"

"You're of royal blood. That's enough to make you a target. And any shadow could hide a knife, so we must ensure you are never alone."

Lissa suddenly perked back up and innocently giggled, which sent a chill down Lon'qu's spine, "My hero!" She laughed, smiling again. "I don't have to worry about a thing with you around! La la laaa~" She sang, skipping out the door.

Lon'qu cautiously rushed after her, afraid that she would do something reckless, "Don't be careless! Keep your eyes open! Death could lurk in any nook or..." He sighed, giving up on trying to persuade her for now, "Surely there is someone else better suited for this task..."

"Yeah, but you were just lazing around catching butterflies all day, so Chrom–" She teased before getting rudely cut off.

"I certainly was not!" Lon'qu quickly interjected.

Noticing how angry he was getting, Lissa quickly responded, "J-just kidding, Lon'qu! K-kidding! I'm sure Chrom was impressed by your skill and charm and good looks! I mean, out of everyone here, he's trusting you to keep his little sis safe. That's a pretty huge honor..." She nervously looked up at him. "...Right?"

He sighed and regained his composure, "...I suppose."

Seeing Lon'qu not angry anymore, Lissa instantly perked up again, "Right! So come on, no more grumbling. Let's shake hands and make nice!"

As Lissa stuck out her hand to let him shake it, he gasped and cautiously took a few steps back. Noticing how uncomfortable he was, Lissa sighed, "Oh, fine. No handshaking. We can just... nod at each other." Lon'qu nodded in agreement. Lissa sighed again, "Sheesh! Do you really have such a problem with women?"

She nervously observed Lon'qu's face. The princess was worried that they wouldn't be able to get along or that Chrom would have to choose a different person to bodyguard her. Lissa didn't have a problem with Chrom choosing a different bodyguard, really. However, she wanted to be able to get along with Lon'qu. Thankfully, his response relieved her inner distress.

"Women... I find them... disconcerting. But it will not interfere with my duty."

This gave her an idea. Lon'qu wasn't really _afraid_ of women. They just made him uncomfortable! "Hmm... Maybe as thanks for guarding me I'll go ahead and fix your little problem..."

He scowled at her, "...Or maybe not?"

"Fiiiiine!" She pouted. "I'm going to train, then. You can... just stand there and look dour."

"That suits me just fine."

Lissa huffed and walked away, picking up her staff. She sighed and walked to their makeshift infirmary tent to tend to their wounded soldiers. _I guess I'll just practice healing to get my mind off of things._ The princess walked up to the man closest to the entrance. His abdomen had been recently injured. She focused her energy in front of her and finally let it out. A blast of green light flew to him and sped up his process of healing. She smiled at her success, "There! All better! Try not to move around too much though. Just keep resting and drink lots of fluids and you'll be better in no time!" The soldier gave her his sincere thanks before she moved on to the next wounded ally.

Lon'qu watched in curiosity as she effortlessly healed each individual person in mere seconds. After noticing that she was done, he walked away from the tent, trying to keep his distance when she walked out. Days went by like this. He would watch over her from a distance like a hawk. He found himself observing her more carefully than he would've liked to. He studied her mannerisms. Like the way she furrowed her brow when she was really concentrated, or the way she would slightly skip a bit and then return to a brisk walk, or how she was constantly smiling no matter what happened. Sometimes, in battle, she would do very reckless things, like charging into the front lines when an ally was wounded even though an enemy was nearby. However, every single time, Lon'qu always came to her aid without fail.

"Don't be so careless! Being that reckless could get you killed!" He would warn her every single time, but she never listened. Eventually, his scolding gradually transformed into: "Are you okay? You should be more careful. You could've gotten yourself killed!" And every time he said something remotely similar to that, he would mentally punch himself in the face.

This girl was different from most of the women he had met. She seemed very... approachable.

Perhaps there was a chance that he could get over his irrational fear.

* * *

Woo! Chapter 1. I think I'll probably be updating fairly quickly since it's Spring Break. And there are probably quite a few grammatical errors, but nothing really distracting. Thanks for reading!


	2. Good Princess

A/N: I wrote this and chapter 3 all in one go, so I apologize if there are any glaring errors. Please point them out if you spot any! I'll fix them ASAP. I'm kind of trying to get into Lon'qu's head, figuring out how he works, what makes him tick. Judging by what I've seen in the game, he seems kind of... borderline socially awkward? An introvert. Anyways, this is one of my favorite support conversations between these two because he actually admits that her smile puts him at ease, but he kind of has a roundabout way of doing it, I guess.

* * *

**Good Princess**

Although he'd hate to admit it, Lon'qu was amused watching Lissa train. The healer insisted on becoming more accustomed to different weapons.

"I'm not delicate!" He remembered her yelling a few times this morning. Looking up, he couldn't help but crack a smile after watching her trying to lift up a large hammer. However, his grin quickly vanished when he saw her pick it up as if it weighed nothing. She then smashed the hammer against the head of a wooden dummy with all her strength, effectively smashing it to bits. Lon'qu stared incredulously. _This woman is impossible... _

Lon'qu felt something fall on his forehead. _Is this... water? _He glanced up at the sky and finally noticed how gray it was. Suddenly, it began to pour, causing Lissa to shriek and run to her tent. The myrmidon jumped up and ran after her. He slowly opened the flaps of her tent and walked in to be greeted by a drenched Ylissean princess. They stared at each other in silence.

Strangely, Lon'qu spoke up first, "So... You're not delicate, huh?"

"Oh shush, you grump!" She pouted. "So why are you in my tent even though you don't like women?" Lissa asked. She sat down on the ground, and Lon'qu followed suit.

"Because my du– "

Lissa cut him off and grinned, "Oh! I see how it is! I think I understand." She triumphantly nodded. "After these few weeks you have been guarding me... You've gotten over your fear of women! Am I right or am I right?"

"_Because _my duty is to watch over you." He quickly interjected, frowning.

"Oh..." Lissa frowned. "Well... I want to help you with your problem, you know? But I can't do that if you don't let me!"

"Nng!"

"And besides... If I help you get over your fear of women, the time you spend looking over me won't be as painful."

Lon'qu scowled and nervously looked down at the ground. He knew deep down inside that Lissa was right. If he let her try, there may be a chance that he would be able to get over his irrational fear. She was also probably right about how it would make things less miserable for him. Even now, at this very moment, he felt uneasy. He was sitting a few yards away from her, yet the idea of him being in the same tent as a woman made him uncomfortable.

"Well– " He began but was cut off by Lissa when she quickly jumped up and ran outside her tent.

He slowly propped himself up and heard her say something. "It's about time it stopped raining!"

Lon'qu walked outside and took a deep breath. It was humid, and the air was musty. However, despite the weather still being fairly terrible, the Ylissean princess was still in a good mood. She lifted her head up and gazed up at the sky and laughed, "Look, Lon'qu, a rainbow! You should come closer and get a better look at it!" Lissa turned around and beamed at Lon'qu. She ran towards him and was about to yank his arm when he defensively jumped back.

"K-Keep your distance! I can see it from here."

Lissa huffed, "Fine." She looked up and scowled at him, putting her hands on her hips, trying to make a point, "Can you even guard me from that far away?!"

He stood there and curtly responded, "I can close the distance in the blink of an eye."

"Wow! Seriously?! I'm nowhere near _that_ fast!" She exclaimed, clearly impressed.

Lon'qu knew something was wrong when he saw a mischievous grin suddenly appear on her face. "Let's see how long it takes me to..." She sang, slowly closing in on her bodyguard.

He feverishly waved his hands in front of him while creating more distance between him and the girl. "Enough! Stop trying to get closer!" He frantically yelled.

Lissa giggled at his reaction, "You're pretty sharp! But you know... I was just trying to be friendly. I want us to be able to get along, y'know?" She frowned, "We can't be best buds if you're all the way over there."

"I'm close enough to protect you, and we are _not_ best buds."

"Geez! You're such a grump. Why do you even bother guarding me if that's how you really feel?"

He calmly replied, "Because those are my orders..." Lon'qu paused, hesitant to continue. He wasn't exactly sure why, but he ended up saying it anyways, "...And morale would fall if anything happened to you..."

He heard Lissa let out a deep sigh, "Oh puh-lease! No one would really care if something happened to me..." She frowned, "Someone stronger would probably just roll my corpse away and take over the fight!"

Lon'qu had never seen this side of the princess before. He had never taken into consideration that she would have any problems like that. Suddenly, everything made sense. _So that's why she was training with all those weapons this morning... _The myrmidon also took into account the fact that he had noticed her sighing more often than usual lately. There was also the time when she abruptly came into his tent to ask him something along the lines of, "How can I be a better princess?" He remembered himself bluntly responding, "Nothing," because it was true. Lissa wasn't a "bad" princess. Lon'qu didn't really think that there was such thing as anyone who was "bad" at being a princess.

"...Do you truly not see how your presence energizes the others? How your smile and demeanor put everyone at ease?"

"R-Really?" Lissa blushed, embarrassed by his sudden compliments. "So... What about you, Lon'qu? Does my smile put you at ease as well?"

"Perhaps... From a certain distance."

His comment caused her to groan and stomp away, "Ugh! Why do I even bother anymore? I'll see you later, grump."

"W-Wait! I'll go with you!" Lon'qu tried to follow after her. _Did I upset her? Did I say something wrong? Gods! Why is talking to women so hard?!_

She turned around, and her face turned a bright shade of red, "No you won't! I'm going to take a bath! My clothes are still soaked, and it's really gross outside right now!"

"G-Gah! B-But my orders! You'll be!... You could!..." He watched as she walked away and groaned, "Argh! Now that I think about it... There have been no signs of attempt on her life. Either her assailants are being extremely cautious... Or perhaps this is some sort of ruse? Are she and Chrom toying with me?"

Lon'qu returned to his tent, still lost in thought. Part of him hoped that it was all just a large-scale joke, but another part of him hoped that it wasn't. _I was actually able to hold a conversation with her. I think... I think I'm making progress._


	3. Impossible

A/N: This chapter is like two times longer than what the past two have been, but who cares? This one took a bit longer to write since it's not based on any support conversation, but it kind of foreshadows what's to come?

* * *

**Impossible**

Lon'qu always set up his tent far away from any woman's tent. However, ever since he began guarding Lissa, he began to sleep outside of her tent. His orders were to guard her at all times, and if he must sleep outside her tent, then so be it. Lissa noticed this and insisted that he move his tent next to hers. Lon'qu gave in, and eventually began setting up his tent next to hers. One afternoon, Lissa insisted on catching up on her studies, and she insisted that he go get some rest. Lon'qu reluctantly agreed and left. He lied down and stared at nothing for a few hours, unable to sleep. He could hear the princess mumbling something incomprehensible next door. Finally, all the noise subsided. _Peace at last... _

He suddenly heard a loud thump. Alarmed, Lon'qu quickly jumped up and sprinted to her tent. "Shit! Could it be an assassin?!"

When he barged into her tent, there was no one there except for Lissa, who was still sitting at her desk. She was slumped over. Lon'qu walked over to her to make sure that she was okay. The swordsman sighed in relief, "She's just asleep... I can't believe she fell asleep while studying."

He noticed that her arms were drooped down at her sides, and her head was face-down on the desk. Lon'qu silently chuckled to himself. Without thinking, he walked over and picked up a blanket. He draped it over her shoulders and silently left, trying not to wake her.

Knowing that she was safe, he slept soundly that night.

* * *

Lissa awoke to find a blanket on top of her.

"Nng... Did I fall asleep? What time is it?..."

She walked outside to find that it was still pitch black outside. The princess glanced over at Lon'qu's tent and smiled, lightly holding onto the blanket that covered her. "I think I have a pretty good idea of what happened."

The healer returned to her tent and went back to sleep. This time, in a proper bed. She had strange, peculiar dreams that night, all of which consisted of her and Lon'qu getting along and being "best buds". She had a dream that the assassins found her, but Lon'qu came to her aid and defeated them all within mere seconds, not breaking a single sweat. She dreamed about a time where they were on a very bumpy path, and he held her hand the whole way. They had proper conversations, and she even got him to smile a few times. Then, she woke up, determined to help get rid of his problem once and for all.

Lissa was the very first person up for once. She tip-toed over to her bodyguard's tent. Lon'qu was still fast asleep. She kneeled down and smiled to herself before gently nudging him. "Wake up, Lon'qu!"

When she noticed that he was still asleep, she glared at him and shook him even harder this time. "Wakey, wakey! Rise and shine!" Lissa groaned in frustration and nudged him again, "LON'QU! WAKE UP!"

"WE'RE SURROUNDED BY ASSASSINS!"

Hearing this, Lon'qu sat up as quick as possible. "Are you okay?! Where are they?"

Lissa giggled, "Silly, Lon'qu. I was just trying to wake you."

Lon'qu finally realized how close she was to him. "A-Ack! Get back!" He dove under his sheets, concealing his red face. "Get out of my tent! Keep your distance!"

"That's the problem! I want to fix this issue of yours so we can be best buds and have actual conversations and have fun and stuff like that! Plus, you're supposed to be my bodyguard. You're supposed to wake up _before_ me." Lissa pursed her lips and waited for him to respond.

"Sorry." She head him mumble from underneath his bedsheets.

The princess frowned and wrestled the thin blanket off of him, "Come on, Lon'qu! We're going on a walk. I'll be waiting outside."

Lissa anxiously stood outside his tent. What Lon'qu didn't know was that she was actually going to go and scout the area. _If we run into enemies, I can gain valuable battle experience! Plus, I'll be able to spend more time with Lon'qu. Chrom says we won't be leaving for a few more days. Something about waiting for more supplies to come in. This is my chance to finally help him get rid of his gynophobia once and for all. _Lon'qu finally walked outside. When he noticed Lissa right next to the entrance, he swiftly side-stepped away from her.

"Oh no you don't!" She yanked his arm and firmly held on to it. Making physical contact with a woman caused a shiver to go down his spine.

"No. Let go!"

The princess scowled, "I'm not letting go until you agree to stop putting so much distance between you and me! You are to walk next to me the _whole_ time."

"Fine."

The healer shot him a complacent grin, "Good."

She let go of his arm and watched him reluctantly stand right next to her.

Lon'qu asked, "What is the point of this?"

Lissa curtly replied, "If you can't stand standing next to a woman, how can you expect to even begin getting over this irrational fear of yours? No pun intended, by the way."

"Why are you so insistent on helping me?" He asked, sounding slightly irritated.

The princess tilted her head to the side, trying to think of the best possible way to answer his question, "Well... I don't really know. I mean... I guess I just like helping people? Well, if it makes you feel any better, I guess I just really want to help you because you're always looking out for me. I know it's your duty to look over me, but you could always tell Chrom no because of your fear. My big brother could easily get someone else to do the job, y'know? There are plenty more people to choose from... like Frederick!"

The princess shook her head, "Ugh! What I am trying to say is that I'm just grateful that you're even trying to look after me. I know you have a lot of trouble with women, and I want to help you get rid of it. And most of all, I want to be good friends with you, the bestest of best buds! The idea of not being able to get along with someone... I'd rather not think about it."

She heard Lon'qu groan in frustration, "First of all, I'm just following orders. Orders are orders. Secondly, I think I can take care of my own problems. By _myself– " _

"Why won't you let me help you? I just want to help make things better!"

"Look, Lissa, my problem with women can't be solved as easily as you think! You can't fix this the same way you can magically mend a broken bone! Now regardless of what you want, I will continue to look after you. From a _distance_."

"ARGH!" the young princess stomped away in rage, "Why do I even _bother _anymore?! So stubborn– argh!"

The myrmidon took a seat under his favorite tree and watched as the young princess stomped away, absolutely furious. He let out a deep sigh. "Oh gods what have I done to deserve this?"

_I messed up! Why did I say that? I thought that I was beginning to get used to her. And I'm not stubborn. I'm just very... independent? Maybe I should resort to practicing talking to women by myself in my free time? Either way, I probably shouldn't have said that. I'm supposed to apologize now, right? But how exactly am I supposed to apologize to someone? Should I try a direct approach? Yes... A direct approach. Direct... like... stabbing people._

* * *

Meanwhile, Lissa decided to let out her anger on some training dummies.

"Why can't I get through to him, ugh! I've never, ever, _ever had_ this problem before!" She yelled, dangerously swinging an axe around. Hearing the ruckus she was making, Robin left her tent to investigate what was going on.

"What are you doing, Lissa?" Robin inquired. She walked over to where Lissa was standing and motioned for her to calm down, "Calm down! What's bothering you? I can tell you're angry, but swinging a huge axe around won't change anything. What's wrong? You can tell me. We can discuss it in my tent if you'd like."

Lissa looked down at the ground feeling guilty and slowly nodded. "Okay..."

Lissa sat down across from Robin, resting her arms on the table. Robin gently smiled, "Are you ready to talk about your problems?"

The young princess nodded, "Yep." She took in a deep breath and exhaled in an attempt to calm herself down, "Okay. Here goes. I'm just really upset because I'm trying _so_ hard to help Lon'qu with his problem! Like, I genuinely really, _really, reaaaally _want to help him! But you know what? He's being a stubborn grump and won't let me! I'm just trying to be nice, y'know? He's always looking after me and making sure that I don't get into any trouble. He used to always scold me in battle when I'd do something stupid, and I really appreciate that! Plus, he's doing all of this even though he has a fear of women. I don't know why he's uneasy around women, but I want to get rid of his problem, so we can be the bestest of best buds in the whole entire universe! But, like, does he have a problem with me or something? He yelled at me too!"

The tactician frowned, "I don't think that he has a problem with particularly _you_, per say. I think that you're just being a bit too pushy. I think that he probably feels bad for yelling at you though. I suggest that you go apologize soon."

"Thanks for listening to me, Robin." Lissa smiled, "But why are you wasting your time listening to me?"

Robin frowned, "Because I'd rather listen to your relationship problems than have you go to Old Hubba. Everything that spews out of his mouth is a giant load of bull."

"Are you speaking from experience?"

"Why, yes I am."

Lissa grinned mischievously, "Don't tell me you went to him to ask about _Chrom._"

Shortly after, Lissa found herself kicked out of the tent by a very flustered tactician. _I knew they liked each other!_ _But Old Hubba, huh? Judging from her reaction, he was probably very accurate. Maybe I should go ask him! _

The princess found herself inside of Old Hubba's tent.

"Who would you like me to check?"

"Lon'qu and me." Lissa said.

The old man took out two cards. One had her face on it, and the other had Lon'qu's. _Where the heck does he find these pictures of us? They're so clear! _The princess sat there in silence, waiting for Old Hubba to finish his reading.

He cleared his throat and pointed at Lon'qu's card and slowly moved his finger across the table to hers, "Budding friendship." Then he poked her card and drew a line towards Lon'qu's, "Desires attention."

Old Hubba chucked, "Ohoho! ...Do you see the wedding ring?"

Lissa could feel her face grow hot. Her cheeks turned bright red. "W-W-What?! I can't believe you would suggest such a thing! He doesn't even want to be friends with me. And I do _not_ desire his attention!"

Hubba frowned, "Doesn't want to be friends with you? I can tell that he actually really does. I mean, it's pretty obvious, really. I think that all he needs is a good push in the right direction."

Lissa instantly brightened up, "Oh, I see! Thank you, mister!" She dashed out of the tent in a hurry to find Lon'qu. When she found him, he was dozing off underneath a tree. "Lon'qu!"

Lon'qu awoke, startled, "L-Lissa?" He cleared his throat and then continued, "What are you doing here?"

She sat down in front of him and sighed, "Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened earlier today. I probably shouldn't have been so forceful."

The swordsman looked up, confused, "Wait. Why are you apologizing? Shouldn't I be the one apologizing? I... shouldn't have... yelled at you like that. I'm sorry."

Lissa stuck out her hand, "Friends?"

Lon'qu felt uneasy about making physical contact, but he shook it anyways, "Friends."

"Oh, and, Lon'qu? I just wanted to thank you... for last night." The healer slightly blushed.

"For... last night?..." Lon'qu asked, confused about what she was talking about.

She bobbed her head up and down, "Yeah! For covering me with that blanket! I thought that it was very thoughtful and sweet of you to do that."

"O-Oh... So you knew? Um, well... You're welcome, I guess."

"I also want you to know one more thing!" Lissa pouted, "I'm still not giving up on curing your fear of women though! But I promise I won't be so pushy about it all the time. I'll give you your space... For now."

And at that moment, she could've sworn she saw his lips curl into a small smile. "Good."

The Ylissean princess sighed, "Back to the one-word responses now, are we?"

"Yeah."

"You are _impossible_."

* * *

A/N: For some reason, I felt the strong need to include a scene with Lissa having dreams about Lon'qu. It was supposed to be a dream about them dancing, but it somehow turned into this instead? I have no idea how my brain works anymore. I also felt the strong need to include Old Hubba. I think that the Hubba Tester is hilarious. And I think that Lon'qu is fully capable of holding conversations with women once he really gets into it. I also need to stop posting/updating stories at midnight.


	4. Change

A/N: This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This chapter was a blast to write.

* * *

**Change**

Lon'qu was slowly becoming more talkative. It was nothing groundbreaking, but Lissa had an easier time conversing with him than she did before. However, any physical contact was completely off-limits, much to the princess's dismay. She would come up with small excuses to try and get him to move closer, but he would always respond with a simple, "No." Lissa would sigh and keep her distance, occasionally glancing back at the swordsman.

Lon'qu continued to observe Lissa from a distance. Her training was going very well. He wasn't exactly sure why, but the princess had taken a liking to axes. She was becoming much more stronger, more independent, and she could endure much more now. Despite this, Lon'qu insisted on being beside her in battles at all times. Now that she could actually do some damage to enemies, Lissa was spending more and more time on the front lines just like she wanted. Things were actually going fairly well. They had recently prevented Emmeryn from being assassinated, and everyone believed that they could turn the tides of the war fairly soon. Robin was spending more and more time coming up with different battle strategies, formations, and routes with Chrom.

Lissa would sometimes whisper to Lon'qu from a distance, making strange gestures towards the two, mischievously grinning, "Psst, Lon'qu! Do you think that they'd be cute together?" Lon'qu would vaguely reply, "Maybe," which caused her to groan in frustration.

Not only was the swordsman beginning to notice more things about Lissa, Robin, and Chrom, he was beginning to pay more attention to his other allies as well, occasionally striking up conversations with a few men. He had to admit, he was growing quite fond of his new allies. A few of the things he mentally took note of was the fact that Vaike was actually spending time practicing and learning the basics of fighting from Cordelia, and there was even this one time when he could've sworn he saw Olivia running all over camp frantically looking for someone named "Kellam". Lon'qu forgot that they even had someone named Kellam at their camp. To adjust to this new knowledge, he began to look sideways and squint, a strange piece of advice he took from their fellow tactician, in order to notice him. Ricken and Nowi were practically glued to each other, constantly whispering and giggling to themselves. Panne was beginning to warm up to Gregor, which was a completely unexpected turn of events. Donnel had also become an amazing swordsman in an unbelievably a short amount of time.

One final thing that he took note of was the fact that he was beginning to find it easier to talk to Lissa. Lon'qu thought that he was making lots of progress. Although some things still made him uneasy, the thought of him having a chance of getting over this ridiculous fear put him in good spirits. Although his face continued to remain rather stoic, he frowned less. Every now and then, he would feel his lips curl into a small smile.

One particular instance that caused him to smile was when Lissa tried her hand at baking. She had been jotting down tips from Olivia and collecting recipes. She thought that it would be a good idea to bake something on her own for once. However, it ended in disaster. Everything ended up catching on fire, and she got scolded by Chrom for a long time. Lon'qu ended up finding a small piece of a pastry that was lucky to have not been burned in the tragedy that occurred. He reluctantly popped it into his mouth and was surprised to find out that it was actually delicious.

Lissa was upset the whole day because of her failure and ultimately the fact that Chrom scolded her. Although he hated to admit it, Lon'qu found it painful to see her that way. He ended up proving himself right about how everyone would lose morale if something happened to her. Things just weren't the same. He came up with a plan. He found another unburnt piece of her ruined dessert and walked towards her tent. He cleared his throat and allowed himself in.

"What do you want?" She sobbed, hugging her knees. "If you're just here to make another one of your snarky remarks, now is not a good time."

The swordsman let out a deep sigh, "I just wanted to let you know that your dessert was delicious."

"How would you know? I burned the whole kitchen down!"

"I found a few unburnt pieces and tried one."

She started to cry, "Don't lie to me, Lon'qu."

"But I'm not." Lon'qu knelt down and held out the piece he had found earlier, tearing off a small piece, popping it into his mouth, "It's good."

He swallowed and held out what was left in front of her, "You should try it."

The sobbing princess reluctantly tried it, slowly chewing, and her eyes slowly widened. Lon'qu stared at her with a small smile, "See? It's good, right?"

"Yeah... It is!" Lissa quickly wiped away her tears and replaced her frown with her signature smile. "Thanks for cheering me up, Lon'qu!" She scooted closer to him and threw her arms around his neck, "Thank you!"

However, Lon'qu instinctively pushed her away. "S-Stop!"

She quickly pulled herself away from him, defensively putting her hands up as if she were surrendering, "S-Sorry! I forget about your little... problem sometimes." Lissa pouted, "It's hard to remember when you're beginning to talk so much now."

She suddenly gasped, "Wait a minute! I could've sworn– Did you smile a moment ago?"

Lon'qu stared at her with his typical stoic expression, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're lying!" Lissa started to bounce up and down, "I saw it! I totally saw you smile!"

She was practically glowing from happiness and started to giggle, "You're also not sitting, like, five yards away from me. You're right in front of me!"

"I am, aren't I? However, I don't think I can handle any physical contact of any sort yet. But I think... it's getting better."

Lissa gently smiled at him, "You know what, Lon'qu? I think you're right. It is getting better."

And Lon'qu smiled back.

* * *

A/N: So yeah, I kinda forgot last night about how Henry and Cherche aren't recruitable until after Emmeryn dies. And Olivia isn't recruitable until right before she dies, but I decided to keep her in this chapter. It was so frustrating getting Olivia at that moment because she was so weak and died within seconds. Back to spamming reeking boxes.


	5. Death

A/N: This chapter is a bit longer than what the previous ones have been, whelp. It took a while to write. I was going to make it a little longer, but I thought it would be best if I just paraphrased a few scenes instead.

* * *

**Death**

Every now and then Lissa would gently nudge Lon'qu's arm to whisper something into his ear and then giggle right after. And every time Lon'qu didn't overreact about all the small physical contact they were making, Lissa would smile to herself. They would shake hands, occasionally high-five, and small things like that. However, one thing that he absolutely did not allow was hugging. It was completely off-limits, which upset the princess because she loved to hug people. However, recently, things were different.

Emmeryn was to be executed.

Robin, Chrom, Basilio, and Flavia spent countless hours coming up with different routes and strategies in order to stop the execution. It was map after map after map. Lissa, on the other hand, tried to get her mind off of the execution as much as possible. She would constantly find excuses to go on walks with Lon'qu, whether he wanted to or not. However, Robin noticed how she was running from her problems and confronted her about it. She snapped Lissa back into reality, and she was the same bubbly girl everyone knew and loved again. Rather than being afraid of what would happen in the future, she was determined to stop it. She trained vigorously every afternoon right before dinner. She greatly improved her weapon proficiency and began to heal more effectively. Lon'qu was worried that she was working herself too hard. He would often scold her, but she would brush it off and say something along the lines of, "I am not that delicate!"

Some days, she would collapse from exhaustion or starvation or both, and Lon'qu would carry her back into her tent and tuck her in. And to his surprise, she never realized that it was him that tucked her in bed every night. She assumed it was Chrom because that was something an older brother like Chrom would do, right?

Finally, the day came, the day where they would march into battle to save their beloved exalt. They were carefully following the path that Robin had planned and were met with little to no resistance. Lon'qu quickened his pace until he was directly next to Lissa. As her bodyguard, he was supposed to be by her side at all times. And as her friend. Lon'qu wasn't exactly sure _when_, but he considered Lissa to be a close friend of his. Although he'd hate to admit it, just like how he hated to admit many other things, he had grown fond of the Ylissean princess. At first, he was upset about being her bodyguard, but now he wouldn't have it any other way. He had overcome his fear. Some situations proved to be a bit awkward for him, but Lon'qu never ran away like he used to.

The sudden glaring heat snapped him out his thoughts. The temperature was quickly rising as they advanced further into Plegian territory. They were now completely surrounded by desert. In the distance, they saw their target. On a long, slanted stone walkway, Emmeryn stood at the very edge, her executioner close behind her. We stood by, waiting for Gangrel to start the execution. When he told the executioner to do his job, Robin yelled, "Now, Flavia!"

She flexed her arms and threw her axe as far as she could, effectively killing the executioner and knocking him off. The Ylissean army stormed the Plegian walls only to be confronted by their army already prepared. Everyone got into position and charged in, determined to save Emmeryn. Amongst the chaos, they made two new allies, Libra and Tharja. Lon'qu could've easily took down many of their enemies in seconds, but the sand was making it extremely difficult to maneuver. He trudged forward until he was completely in front of Lissa. He looked back and motioned for her to stay close. She nodded and complied.

After a long battle, they had taken out all their soldiers and their wyvern riders. Now that the skies were clear, Chrom gave the signal and their pegasus knights came swooping in. However, right when they thought victory was in their grasp, out of no where, Aversa summoned seven Risen archers.

"Chrom, there are Risen everywhere!" Robin yelled in distress.

"Damn! Not now!"

Gangrel's cackling laugh cut through the air, "Oh, did an army of living corpses just appear out of the blue?! Truly, the heavens smile upon might King Gangrel today!"

His laughing grew louder and louder as each one of their pegasus knights fell to their deaths. "Watch how they fall one by one!"

Gangrel faced Chrom with his wicked smile, "I believe this is what they call a reversal of fortunes. Now... grovel before me! Plead! Beg for your worthless lives!"

Chrom retorted, "I'd give up my life before I'd beg for it from you."

The Plegian king laughed once more, "Oh, now _that_ is a good line! A fitting epitaph for your tombstone, perhaps? But it's not just your life in the balance. The exalt still stands upon the block, and I have a dozen bows trained on her. All it would take is one word from me..."

Chrom frantically gazed up at his sister, "Emm! Hold on, I'm– "

"ARCHERS! If this Ylissean pup so much as twitches, let fly your arrows!" Gangrel ordered.

"I-I'll kill you!" Chrom threatened.

"Go ahead, I welcome it!" Gangrel taunted, "Just know you were responsible for Big Sister's bloody demise! And what of the rest of you? Eh? Who wants the honor of killing the exalt?!"

He waited for a response, but there was silence.

"No one? Bah! Your merry band isn't quite so headstrong anymore, is it?_ Pathetic!_"

"Damn you!" Chrom grunted, finally realizing how dire things have gotten.

"Now, now, my boy... No one needs to die today. Not you. Not your friends. Not even the exalt. Just lay down your swords and give me the Fire Emblem."

Chrom gasped, "...I..."

Robin quickly interjected, "Chrom! You can't trust him!"

He frantically responded, "Of course I can't trust him! I'm not an idiot! But if I say no, he'll just kill her! The gods are cruel! Damn them! My sister or my duty... A problem with no answer, yet I must choose!"

The tactician took a deep breath and exhaled, "That's right! Don't give up! There has to be a way..."

"If there is, I can't see it... Ah, gods!"

Gangrel casually cleared his throat and announced that he was going to count to three. "Throw down your weapons or your exalt becomes the world's largest quiver!"

Right when he reached three, Chrom quickly cut him off, "Gangrel, hold!... You win... Everyone, lay down yo– "

"No wait!" Everyone heard Emmeryn yell from above.

"Emm..."

Emmeryn stood tall and looked down at Gangrel, "King Gangrel, is there no hope you will listen to reason?"

"You mean listen to more of your sanctimonious babble?! I think not. No. All I want to hear is the thunk of arrows and a _splat_ as you hit the ground!" Gangrel bellowed, loud enough for everyone to hear, his voice echoing throughout the area, "Take one long last look from your perch. You do so enjoy looking down on your people... Then prepare to meet the ground, and your maker! That is, unless someone here were to give me the Emblem... _Now!_"

"Wait!" Chrom took a step towards Gangrel and looked up at his beloved sister Emm with hopeful eyes, "All right, Emm... I know you won't approve, but this is my final decision. _Maybe_, someday we'll face a crisis where _maybe_ the Emblem would've helped. But I know for a fact that Ylisse needs you, today! The people need their exalt!... And we need our sister... If those dark days should come, we will face them together!"

Emmeryn gazed down lovingly at Chrom, and her lips curled into the gentlest smile anyone had ever seen, "Chrom... Thank you... I now know what it is that I must do." She turned around and slowly walked towards the edge.

"E-Emm?! What are you?!"

"Plegians! I ask that you hear the truth of my words! War will win you nothing but sadness and pain, bother inside your borders and out. Free yourselves from this hatred! From this cycle of pain and vengeance! Do what you must... As I will do... See now that one selfless act has the power to change the world!"

"Emm! No! _NO!_" Chrom desperately sprinted to where Emm would land. Where Emm would end up safe and sound. Where his beloved Emm would land safely in his arms.

Emmeryn smiled one last time, and slowly walked to the very edge. She took in the sight of all the Plegian citizens below her. The beautiful blue sky. The birds. The clouds. Chrom. Lissa. Her beloved people.

And then she fell.

"_NO!" _Lissa screamed and covered her eyes, not wanting to see her sister fall to her death. She felt her throat close up and her chest grow tense. It felt as if someone had plunged a knife into her heart. Her head hurt. Everything hurt. However, she quickly wiped away the tears that threatened to fall down her face. She stared down at the ground for what seemed to be an eternity until Lon'qu kindly asked her to get up. They were to flee immediately. Lon'qu took her hand in his and helped her catch up with the rest of their army.

On the way to their means of escape, they were forced into another battle. Everyone was phsyically, mentally, and most of all, emotionally drained. However, in the end, they came out victorious and met up with Olivia and finally escaped. After a long and bumpy ride, they had finally returned to the palace. The palace was dark and empty and dead silent. Lissa finally let the tears she so desperately fought to hold in fall and silently fled to her room, trying to contain her sobs. She had temporarily tuned out Chrom and Robin's conversation. Suddenly, she felt Lon'qu's warm hand on her shoulder and dried her tears.

"Gods! I was just so powerless!" She heard Chrom yell.

"It's not your fault either, Chrom."

"...She did it for me, Robin!... So that I wouldn't have to live with the guilt of either choice, she chose for me! She sacrificed herself rather than give up what could one day save her people."

"Chrom... Listen to me. Look at me. I was powerless once, too. Remember? And yes, alone. I don't think either one of us is half the person your sister was. But together... Maybe we can be something more. If you fall, I'll be there to pull you back up. When you fight for your sister's ideals, I'll be there by your side. You don't have to become your sister, you know? You can still be true to yourself. You just have to give people hope in whatever way you can."

Chrom frowned, "But still! And what if I can't? What if I am not worthy of her ideals? Robin... What if I drag you down with me?!"

"If you aren't worthy, you'll keep at it until you are. And if we both fall down, well, that's what friends are for, right?"

Nowi smiled, "That's right. I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you!"

Tharja spoke up, "You gave me your trust and now you have mine... For now..."

Lissa heard Lon'qu speak up as well, trying to motivate Chrom, "Were you unworthy, I would have left a long time ago." She felt her hand lightly brush against his and hesitantly took his hand in hers, slowly intertwining their fingers.

"It took great courage and charisma to unite all of us! I knew I possessed such talents, but clearly you do as well!" Virion said.

Ricken smiled, "Yeah! We all look up to you! You're like a hero to us!"

Chrom's face softened, "...Thank you, everyone... Your words mean more than you could ever know. My Shepherds... My warriors... There is work to be done. Gangrel must be stopped so that peace may once again reign in Ylisse. Will you help me?"

Lissa confidently nodded, "You can count me in! I'm tired of crying all the time! It's time to start punchin' stuff!"

Slowly, everyone started to speak up, telling Chrom how they would gladly help him out, how they would gladly fight and die for Ylisse.

Chrom smiled, "Thank you all. Truly... You honor me with your fealty. I will not falter again! We shall answer this outrage! The Mad King must be stopped!"

Flavia, Basilio, and Olivia also agreed to support Chrom. With everyone's support, they began to talk about their plans for their next battle. They planned to strike as soon as possible.

* * *

Lon'qu felt Lissa's hand leave his. Suddenly, his cheeks burned a light shade of red. _When did she?_... Noticing that Lissa had disappeared, Lon'qu fled after her. He followed the sound of her footsteps and was greeted by a closed door. He lightly knocked.

"...It's me."

While waiting for her to open the door, Lon'qu managed to hear bits and pieces of their conversation downstairs. _What? Three days? That soon? _He signed. _Perhaps it's for the best if we strike soon. The sooner we get rid of Gangrel the better._

"It's unlocked, y'know?" He heard her say.

"O-Oh." Lon'qu slowly walked in and found Lissa sitting at the edge of her bed. Her eyes were red and puffy, signs that she had been crying recently. "...Are you... okay?"

"...Yeah."

"But you've been crying." Lon'qu frowned, "...What's wrong?"

Lissa neatly folded her hands on top of her lap and sniffled a little, "Well, you see, yeah, I'm upset about Emm dying. I mean, I loved her so much. She was my big sis... I'm also determined to fight for her and bring an end to this war, but that's the problem. I've committed such terrible acts fighting in this war... Some nights, I can't even sleep because it keeps me up all night. It's all I can think about sometimes. And if I do fall asleep, I start to have nightmares about it. I want to end this war, I really do, but I want to end it without having to kill anyone..."

_How can I cheer her up? _Lon'qu sat down next to her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, "...Look, I know that... killing people... doesn't come easily to, uh... everyone. _Gods!_ I am bad at this. Forget what I just said. Well, I can understand that you feel... conflicted, but we already know very well that Gangrel is not willing to compromise, so we are forced to fight. And as a result, many innocent people lose their lives. Well, if you don't want to fight... you could always stick to healing people like you always used to do. That's what you're good at, right? Helping people?"

The princess turned her head so that she was facing Lon'qu and felt her face grow a little hot. "And if you refuse to fight... you can always stay behind me. I'll... I'll protect you. For sure. Letting you die... is that last thing I would ever want. Also, I'm not only saying this because I'm your bodyguard, you know?" Lon'qu was worried that his words would only make her feel worse. He looked at her to find that she was on the verge of tears.

Her voice was shaky, and her face was red, "...Lon'qu... If it's not too much trouble... Will you give me a hug?"

Lon'qu wrapped his arms around her, and she practically collapsed into him. She held on for dear life as she cried all her troubles away, soaking his shoulder in tears. This was the first time he ever allowed himself to hug anyone. He knew that sometimes, you need a shoulder to cry on. Growing up, there was really no one there for him. He had lost his best friend because he was too weak, too scared. He had lost the trust of her parents. Out of shame and guilt, he ran away, never to be seen again. Being alone, it hurt, and there was never anyone there for him. After many years, he molded and forged himself into the person he is today. Although his tears had long since dried, he understood how Lissa felt. She was always trying to be strong. Lissa never let herself cry, and she never let anything bring her down, like the death of her older sister. But no matter how strong someone is, they eventually need to let it all out. Lon'qu understood that very well.

And the thought of letting her go never crossed his mind. Not once.

* * *

A/N: I wish Lon'qu's backstory was explained more thoroughly. I wish the game touched on it a little more outside of his support conversations with Cherche. I paraphrased a few things (like the battles and stuff). I also wanted to touch on Lissa's character a little more. In the story, she's portrayed as someone's very... strong in her own way. She's never really down and always really happy, but I think that that's just her way of coping with the bad things in life. If you pretend to be happy, you'll start to feel happy as well, you know? I'm taking some liberties with the characterization and stuff, so if any of it bothers you, sorry, haha.

Well, I think that after the first two support conversations, Lon'qu has gotten over his gynophobia. In their A-support conversation, Lissa asks if they should hold hands because the road is bumpy. I'm pretty sure, she wouldn't ask him if he were 10 feet away, haha. I'm also going to hold the last two support conversations off a little longer. I'm going to have some fun writing about the stuff that happens during the time skip.


	6. An Era of Peace

A/N: Whelp fluff and relationship and story development kinda sorta?

* * *

**An Era of Peace**

Lissa slowly fell asleep in Lon'qu's arms. He tucked her in like how he used to in camp. He silently left the room and shut the door, sighing.

Lon'qu was against hugging or any actions representing intimacy to any extent. His past had forced him to close himself off from others, but he could never bring himself to simply forget and let go. Those memories and experiences are what made him strong, and they taught him lessons that he would never forget. He never got to live in luxury like Lissa did. He was poor and lived a harsh life. However, like him and everyone else, they were only human and could only take so much. Perhaps closing himself off was preventing him from growing even stronger as an individual. He remembered how much more at ease he felt after he started conversing with his allies more. However, whether he enjoyed those conversations or not was for him to know for himself. Perhaps it was time for a little change in his ways.

Lon'qu returned downstairs to be greeted by a worried Chrom.

"How's Lissa? I saw her leave early. Is she okay?"

Lon'qu nodded, "...Yes. She's fine now."

Chrom nodded and promptly debriefed the plan for their upcoming battle for Lon'qu, and afterwords, everyone got their well-deserved rest.

* * *

Lissa was busy healing as many soldiers as she possibly could. Chrom and many other men were busy loading and unloading new supplies they had stocked up on. Soldiers were sharpening and cleaning their weapons, doing their usual maintenance. Pegasi were being groomed and fed along with a few wyverns.

Lissa noticed that Lon'qu was spending a lot more time training with Gregor, not that it bothered her or anything. Now that she thought about it, Lon'qu was constantly training every single day. She turned away from him and continued healing the wounded soldiers, lost in thought. _He could take a break every now and then. A break won't kill him... He's always so busy training, and when he's not, he's constantly looking out for me as my bodyguard. Maybe I can buy him a gift or something to show my thanks! We can go out shopping like best friends or something! _

Ever since he comforted her last night, the princess found herself thinking about him constantly. She was hopeful that she had finally gotten through to him and that they were finally "best buds". She smiled at the thought of them finally getting along as good friends, and the more people she healed, the bigger her smile grew.

The war was going to end soon. All the pain and suffering was going to end soon, and Lissa had never looked forward to something so much before until now. She finally finished healing and mending everyone's wounds and bones. Lissa left the tent and took a seat next tot the training grounds to watch Lon'qu train. She didn't think that it was possible, but Lon'qu was getting faster and faster. However, despite his speed, Gregor found and opening and completely turned the tides of the match. Lissa watched in amazement. _Gods, I wonder if I'll ever be able to move like that! _She quickly brushed off the thought. Close-combat was never really her thing. She had recently considered reclassing herself to a Dark Flier, curious as to how well riding a pegasus would fare for her. Being a War Cleric was fun and all, but lugging around a large axe everywhere wasn't really her thing. She thought that spears and tomes would suit her better. However, she was still contemplating her decision. If she did become one, she wouldn't be able to heal anymore. She quickly shook her head and changed her mind. _Maybe being a Sage would suit me more. I can dish out damage AND heal! _

She refocused on the match in front of her, curious to see how her bodyguard was faring against Gregor. Lon'qu was doing pretty well. He backed up and little, and he turned his head, noticing that Lissa had been watching him. Lissa cheerfully waved at him with a goofy grin on her face. Lon'qu's face turned a bright shade of red, and he frantically sidestepped when he heard Gregor quickly approaching, which caused Lissa to snort. Lon'qu was about to swing his blade when, suddenly, he felt the tip of his opponent's blade at his throat.

"Gregor wins!"

Lon'qu sighed, admitting his defeat. "You win again, it seems."

"Gregor thinks that if you were not distracted by cute girl over there, you maybe have chance to win." He laughed, causing Lon'qu's face to turn red again.

After a little more talking, Gregor finally left, and Lon'qu walked over to where Lissa was.

"...How long were you watching?"

Lissa grinned, "Not very long. I got here about five minutes ago. So... Looks like my bodyguard isn't as strong as he thinks. Maybe I'll have to get a new one." She teased.

Lon'qu furrowed his brow, "Are you implying that I'm– "

The princess snorted, "I was just joking. Geez, Lon'qu. Even now, you're still such a grump sometimes. Lighten up, will ya?"

"...I'll try."

Lissa jumped up and smiled, "When this war is over, we're going to have lots and lots of fun, okay?"

He groaned, "Do I have a say in this?"

"Nope!" Lissa giggled and let her smile grow a little wider, "Besides, I have to thank you somehow. I don't know what kind of life you've lived, but if you ended up this grumpy, it's gotta be a pretty bad one. I want you to learn how to let loose a little and have a little fun every now and then. You seriously need to take a break and relax."

Her bodyguard gave in, for resistance was futile.

Resistance was always futile when it came to Lissa.

* * *

Another day had passed and they were finally going to march into their final battle. Despite what Lissa had confessed a few nights ago, she was determined to fight. She had promised to fight for Emmeryn. Lissa hated all the killing, but it was for a good cause. If no one took action, there would be no change. They had to bring down Gangrel. They had received news that his armies were falling apart after Emmeryn's death. Emmeryn had gotten through to them. One selfless act really did have the power to change the world.

Lon'qu kept his promise and stayed beside Lissa the whole battle. She cautiously stood behind him as he skillfully cut down each enemy that approached him. Whenever Lissa saw an opening, she would strike, saving Lon'qu some extra work.

Unlike most of the battles they had fought before, Gangrel moved with his army, which was unusual. However, the battle ended very quickly. Most of his soldiers were unwilling to fight and either fled or died. Gangrel was cut down, and Ylisse had won the war. Chrom had a messenger sent to Plegia with written terms he had hastily written the night before. A sense of overwhelming relief flooded Lissa's heart. The war was finally over. Ylisse and Plegia would enter a new era of peace. Emmeryn's wish had been granted.

Soldiers cheered with joy as they marched back to Ylisse. Lissa was so happy that she was practically smiling the whole time. The terrain was starting to become more rugged but anything was better than sand.

Lissa looked up at Lon'qu with hopeful eyes and smiled, "Hey! The path's kinda bumpy here, Lon'qu. Should we hold hands?"

He moved a little further away from her and frowned, "No."

Lissa let out a deep sigh and gazed ahead at all the cheering soldiers being led by Chrom, Robin, Flavia, and Basilio, who were all the way at the front. "Honestly, you think you'd be used to me by now. Plus, if I remember correctly, we totally held hands three days ago. And you're always so serious! We just won a freaking war! New era of peace, y'know?! It wouldn't kill you to smile once in a– "

"Shhh!"

"That is _so_ rude! Gods, I'm only trying to– "

"Get behind me! Quickly!" Lon'qu commanded, firmly grasping her shoulders. When he realized it was too late, he felt a burning sensation in his left shoulder. "There's a– Hngh!"

When Lissa finally came to her senses, there was an arrow lodged in Lon'qu's shoulder. She gasped, "N-no! Lon'qu, you're hurt! Please, you can't! D-don't die!"

Lon'qu grunted and carefully tore the arrow out of his shoulder, "...Ngh. Don't worry. It's just a single arrow. It won't kill me."

"Yeah, but anymore of them could..." Lissa furrowed her brow and looked around, grimacing, "And I... I think we're surrounded!"

"I wager we've found your assassins... Stay close!"

"R-Right!"

Lon'qu turned around and shielded Lissa from anymore arrows. Lissa remained close to him as he swiftly took out the assassins that surrounded them as if it were nothing. When the last one fell, he sighed in relief, "...That's the last of them."

Realizing that it was finally safe, Lissa quickly grabbed onto Lon'qu's arm, "Here, hold still. Let me tend to your wounds."

He shook his head and gazed down at the now-safe princess, "No, I'm fine. Are you hurt?"

She looked up at her bodyguard and gently smiled, "No. Thanks to you."

Lon'qu smiled in relief, "Good. That's... good. Honestly, I did not expect that at all... Although Emmeryn's sacrifice has changed the mindset of many of the citizens, there was bound to be a few people still loyal to Gangrel. Plus, I bet these assassins were being paid. Very clever of them to wait until we won the war. With everyone cheering and whatnot, no one would suspect an assassination attempt. Not to mention, you always lag behind everyone else for whatever reason. No one would hear a thing– "

"Lon'qu, you just.." Lissa cut him off, and her eyes slightly widened as she came to a realization, "You just... You saved my life!"

"I followed orders. You should be safe now, but I better stick around just in case anything else may happen to you." His face turned into a bright shade of red as he suddenly grasped her hand, intertwining their fingers. "Plus, the path's kind of bumpy here."

Lissa beamed up at Lon'qu, and they quickly caught up with the others. Her smile then turned into a frown as she had another revelation, "Um, Lon'qu?"

"What?"

She looked ahead and sulked, "Now that you foiled the plot, I guess your bodyguard duty will be over... I suppose we're done walking together like this, huh?"

"I see no reason to continue."

The princess sighed, "Yeah, but... We were finally getting really close... I'd be sad to lose that now."

"Do not lay this at my feet. I told you to keep your distance– "

"Yeah, but– "

Lon'qu sighed, "_That_ is what I would normally say, but I... promised you that I would spend time 'having fun' with you. And I... suppose... we could still chat from time to time... If you want, I mean..."

Lissa was beaming again, overjoyed by Lon'qu's words, "You mean it?!" She was practically bouncing up and down with joy, "Oh, yay! Thanks, Lon'qu!"

Lon'qu grumbled and cursed under his breath. Something along the lines of, "This woman is _impossible_".

And then he smiled.

* * *

A/N: Yay! Next is the two year time skip. Now I can make stuff up and _fluff_. Ugh. Spring Break is almost over. I don't know if I'll be able to update as frequently as I have been once school starts again.

I really enjoy Lon'qu and Lissa's dynamic. I also enjoy how their relationship develops in their support conversations. Since there can only be so many conversations, a lot of the development leading up to their marriage feels a little rushed, so I will be holding off on that marriage proposal for a while. I have something else planned instead.

Anyways, back to their relationship, I enjoy how subtle the development is. Some things are more obvious than others, but if you pay attention, you can really tell that Lon'qu is starting to get closer and closer to Lissa. I think it's really sweet. I just don't like how he never really gets over his gynophobia entirely. Whelp.


	7. Object of Affection

A/N: I finally had some free time and managed to finish this chapter. I don't really like this chapter that much, but, regardless, I'm still really glad I finished writing. I won't be updating as often as I did during Spring Break, but I'll try to update at least once or twice a week. The next couple of chapters will be mainly fluff. After Chrom and Robin's wedding, we'll be returning to more plot-oriented stuff.

* * *

**Object of Affection**

The war between Ylisse and Plegia had finally come to an end. In Ylisse, there was a huge celebration that lasted weeks. It was festival after festival, party after party, and Ricken and Nowi didn't miss a single one. Not wanting to miss out on any of the fun, Lissa dragged Lon'qu along every time she went out. Eventually, seeing how Lissa had persuaded Lon'qu of all people, Chrom would not give up until Robin agreed to relax and have fun. Eventually, she gave in. After all, she couldn't possibly say no to her fiancé. Chrom had proposed to her a little while before the final battle. They were to be wed in a few weeks. Chrom had also taken up the title of exalt in memory of their late sister, Emmeryn. But for now, instead of fretting over their wedding plans, they were having the time of their lives celebrating.

Lon'qu was being dragged around by Lissa. It was food stand after food stand and restaurant after restaurant. _This princess sure can eat_. Since she was the princess and since they had fought in the war, they got discounts and, occasionally, a free meal.

"I haven't had a good meal since... Since the war started! I swear... Every meal was bear meat!"

Lon'qu took a bite of his skewered... appetizer. He had eaten so much already that he didn't even know what he was eating anymore. All he knew was that it all probably the best thing he had eaten in years. He glanced down at a pouting Lissa, confused, "...What's wrong with bear meat?... I don't think it's... that bad. Although, rabbit is more delicious though... Oh, quail is also good."

Lissa stuck out her tongue in disgust, "It's all so... gamey and _bleargh! _Plus, everything smelled like stinky old boot... Well... I have to admit. Quail is pretty good..."

"You know... You've been eating... a lot. Aren't you worried that you'll get fat or something like that... Women worry about that kind of stuff all the time... Right?"

"I mean, yeah. We care a lot about what we look like and what we eat, but me? Not really. I'm a eating machine! I don't gain weight or fat. Our nurse said something about... High metabolism?"

The swordsman sighed, "Women... are so confusing..."

The princess giggled, "You're getting there, Lon'qu. Besides, look at you now! You're walking beside me. I remember when we first recruited you and when Chrom asked you to be my bodyguard. You stood like ten feet away from me! I can also hang out with you without whole face turning red like a tomato! Plus, you don't freak out anymore." Lissa looked up at him and winked, "And just in case you forgot, you've held my hand twice."

His face turned beet red.

"Okay, maybe I was wrong about your face not turning red anymore."

He stuttered, "W-Well, my face is only red because you brought _that_ up."

Lissa roughly patted his back with a huge grin plastered on her face the whole time, "Haha! Come on, Lon'qu. Some innocent hand-holding between best buds is nothing to be embarrassed about!"

She glanced up at Lon'qu, and when he finally reacted, she was reduced to a fit of giggles and snorts. Hearing Lissa snort, Lon'qu chuckled, but he was trying desperately to stop, hoping that Lissa didn't hear him.

"I heard that!" She had stopped laughing. "I heard you laugh!"

"N-No you didn't!"

"Yes I did! I heard it!" She was practically beaming now, "I guess my laugh is contagious now too, huh?"

Lon'qu nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "...Maybe."

Lon'qu found himself spending more and more time around Lissa despite him not being her bodyguard anymore. He was genuinely glad that they were, as Lissa called it, "best buds". At first, he thought that he was making progress and was recovering from his gynophobia. However, whenever any other woman approached him, he would act defensively and keep his distance. He felt at ease around the Ylissean princess and only her. Many times he had thought about why this may be. He found himself believing that maybe there was another cause for this. Perhaps it wasn't just because they were "best buds". Maybe there was something _more_ to it. Lon'qu found himself thinking about her constantly, and by constantly, he meant _constantly_. The blonde-haired girl walking beside him was consuming his thoughts every single day. The problem was not the fact that she was taking over his thoughts. The problem was a matter of _why_.

The sun was going down, and Lon'qu and Lissa was returning to the palace. Ever since the war ended, Chrom allowed a majority of their team to stay at the palace. Many of them had lost their homes or didn't have one to begin with. Either way, everyone probably would've forced their way in eventually. They were like a huge, inseparable family.

Lissa bounced up the stairs and smiled, "Night, Lon'qu!" She merrily skipped off to her room, leaving Lon'qu alone.

Lon'qu sighed and returned to his room which was all the way down the hall. He removed his boots and fell onto his bed. Staring at the ceiling, he frowned. When he was around Lissa, despite growing to enjoy her company, he would occasionally feel some anxiety when she neared him. It was different from when he got an anxiety attack out of fear. It was a... different kind of anxiety that he couldn't quite figure out. It was like a type of anxiety he secretly enjoyed.

He mentally slapped himself. He was thinking about her again, thinking about her smile, her cute way of laughing. Lon'qu just couldn't get his mind off of her.

That's when it hit him.

"O-Oh no... Oh gods no. Don't tell me..."

Well someone certainly wasn't sleeping tonight.

* * *

Lissa awoke feeling well-rested. The blonde stretched her arms out while yawning. Now that the war had ended, she was no longer plagued by nightmares every night. Instead, she dreamt of happier times that may or may not ever happen. However, one did recently happen. Lissa gently smiled, remembering her outing with Lon'qu. She had developed feelings for him, which was something she certainly did not expect.

The princess wasn't exactly sure when these feelings for her ex-bodyguard blossomed, but she reckoned it was after he had protected her during the assassination attempt. She clearly remembered the two times they had held hands. Perhaps she was blinded by her own hope, but for a while, Lissa thought that maybe Lon'qu wasn't bothered by it. The first time, he was the one that held her hand. The second time, she was the one that held his, and both times, it never really seemed like he wanted to let go of her hand. Because of this, the princess thought that there was a chance that he would return her affections. However, judging by his response yesterday, maybe it did bother him.

She sighed as she hopped out of bed to go and fix her hair. Lissa always tried her best to hide her insecurities. However, every now and then, she'd let something slip, and every single time, Lon'qu had managed to cheer her up. His responses were always sincere. She sighed even more and she put her wild hair up into pigtails. Lissa frowned as she stared in her reflection in the mirror. She had never considered herself to be unattractive. In fact, she knew that she was quite cute. However, at the same time, she thought that the way she held herself up wasn't all that likeable. She was often pushy and brash. Also, unlike most royalty, she was not ladylike and spoke like a commoner. Even though Chrom had convinced her that she was fine the way she was, there were times when she often doubted it. Now was one of those times.

She did not deny that they had gotten really close, but there was this lingering sadness in her heart because there was no way that he would ever like her back, right? The fact that his gynophobia still hasn't been fully cured made things worse.

Lissa stood up and strolled over to her closet, grabbing her light yellow dress, aprons, crinoline, corset, and her white pantyhose. When she finished getting dressed, she rushed downstairs and could smell breakfast being prepared. Surprisingly, a lot of her friends were already up. Robin was casually chatting with Chrom and Frederick, all of them politely waiting for everyone to wake up before eating. Ricken was quietly sitting next to a whining Nowi, who was starving and did not want to wait any longer. Gaius, on the other hand, had already grabbed a majority of the baked confectioneries. Sumia was talking to Cordelia, who occasionally glanced over at Chrom, and Lon'qu sat a seat away from Chrom, next to Gregor, on the opposite side of the women.

Lissa smiled, "Good morning, everyone!"

Everyone politely welcomed her, and she took the seat between Lon'qu and Chrom. She glanced and Chrom and asked, "Morning, Chrom! How are your wedding preparations going?"

He nervously smiled and rubbed the back of his neck, "Better than I thought they would. However, we're still debating about what decorations and what types of flowers we should get."

"I can help with the flowers!" Lissa exclaimed before finally turning towards Lon'qu, "And you're coming with me!"

"...I don't see why I have to go, but... fine."

Grinning, Lissa nodded, "Good! Don't worry, as a reward for accompanying me, we can go to the forge afterwards!"

Although the change was really subtle, she noticed Lon'qu suddenly perk up slightly. Slowly, everyone began to fill in all the seats, and breakfast was finally served. Lissa happily ate all of her food. While eating, she brainstormed a list of flowers that would be nice for their wedding. She took into consideration what Robin would like. She came to the conclusion that the flowers absolutely had to be white.

The princess looked forward to raiding all the floral shops. She only hoped that Lon'qu wouldn't be _too_ upset with her dragging him to floral shops. She could only begin to imagine how he would feel walking into a woman's establishment.

Little did she know that it would be a living hell for him.

* * *

A/N: If you've noticed, lately, I've been focusing more on Lissa's POV. She's one of my favorite characters. I love how pushy she is at times and how she's always smiling and very resilient. However, I wanted to focus on her insecure side more because when you fall for someone, you start feeling more insecure, and it sucks. Big time. Also, Lissa and Lon'qu at the point have already developed feelings for each other, but they're not getting married any time soon. I'm going to hold that off for a long time. I feel that a lot of the relationship development was really rushed for some characters, and a majority of them just kind of rushed into marriage. Well, I can understand why Chrom gets married really early on though. That makes sense. Anyways, thanks for reading! I really appreciate all the reviews and suggestions! You guys are great!

And the site update... Everything looks so different. Gods this feels weird.


	8. Something New

A/N: Whelp. Finally finished this chapter. I get distracted so easily. I could probably write these chapters ten times faster if I weren't distracted by other things... Such as tumblr, hahahaha. I guess these chapters are taking much longer because I have more freedoms and liberties while writing them. Currently, there's really no plot to base these events off of, so I have to do more planning, I guess. And by planning... I mean doodling scenes that I come up with in my head on my math and history notes.

* * *

**Something New**

"I'm not going in there."

"C'mon, Lon'qu! You're not going to die if you walk into a flower shop."

"...No. I am very positive that there is a certain chance that I will."

Lissa forcefully grabbed his hand and slowly dragged Lon'qu through the entrance.

"Unhand me, woman!" He retaliated and began to pull back, and Lissa started to pull harder. It was like a giant game of tug-o'-war. Finally, Lon'qu gave in and let out a deep sigh. "Fine... You win."

He reluctantly let the Ylissean princess lead him in, and he felt his throat begin to close up when the owner of the shop, _a woman_, greeted them.

"W-Welcome, your highness!"

Lissa warmly smiled, "Please just call me Lissa. I insist!"

The woman nervously clasped her hands together, "R-Right, Lissa..." Her eyes nervously shifted from Lissa, to their intertwined hands, to Lon'qu's beet-red face, and, finally, back to the princess. She shakily raised her hand and awkwardly pointed to Lon'qu who was shaking and had a flushed face, "I-Is your, um... companion... okay?"

The princess glanced up at her friend and lightly nudged his arm, whispering into his ear, "Psst!, Lon'qu! Calm down. It's okay! You can do it! I believe in you. Seriously. Calm down. _Women can smell fear!_"

Lon'qu took in a deep breath and cleared his throat, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, "I... I-I'm... fine..."

"He's perfectly fine! He's just... a little shy." Lissa grinned and clung onto his arm, "So... Let's get back on track, shall we?"

"A-Ah yes! What do you need, your hi– Lissa."

"I'm looking for flowers for Chrom's upcoming wedding! I was thinking about getting some white flowers. Something classy, elegant, sophisticated! I don't think Robin would want anything too exotic, y'know?"

The owner of the shop slowly made her way to one corner of the room with Lissa and Lon'qu slowly trailing behind, "Perhaps these white hydrangeas would be to her liking? They're a very popular choice for weddings. They've also been growing very well this year."

Lissa eyed the gorgeous white flowers in curiosity and started to bounce up and down, failing to contain her excitement, "They'll be _perfect!_ This is exactly what I was looking for! ...But how many do we need if we're going to decorate the whole castle?!"

"I could just bring in as many as I can, and we can decide from there. I could also help with the decorating if you'd like. I've always wanted to visit the castle! It would be an honor if you'd allow me to help with preparations for the royal wedding!"

"Of course you may! We'll need all the help we can get!"

They thanked the shop owner and promptly left. Lissa continued to cling onto Lon'qu's arm, but he didn't bother bringing it up since, although he could never bring himself to admit it, he was secretly enjoying it. Lissa kept her promise and allowed him to go to the forge afterwards. She intently watched as the blacksmith began to hammer away at Lon'qu's blade. Basically, she had no idea what was going on. He started to sharpen it, dip it in this weird liquid, wipe it clean, sharpen it again, just a ton of stuff she was totally uneducated about. She had never gone to the forge herself. Every time she went, it was with someone else. Most of the time, it was either Chrom, Frederick, or Vaike. They would say something to the blacksmith, and they would skillfully do their job. Now that she thought about it, even though she had recently fought in a war, she really didn't know that much about weapons. However, one thing she knew for sure was whether a weapon was broken or not. This bothered Lissa. _Maybe I can ask Lon'qu about this kind of stuff... He's really into swords, so maybe he won't have any problems with teaching me about this kind of stuff._

When Lon'qu got his sword back, he was very pleased, and they made their way back to the castle. Lissa nervously glanced up at him and asked, "Say, Lon'qu... You know an awful lot about swords and weapons and stuff, right?"

"...Yes."

"Do you think... you could teach me about weapons and stuff. Like... weapon maintenance and that kind of stuff."

"Hm?..." He looked at Lissa, confused as to why she was asking about this kind of stuff all of a sudden. "...I guess it won't be a problem... But why are you asking about this now? The war is over..."

Lissa shrunk down a little, "I don't really know, actually... I guess I just want to feel more useful. And what if we do somehow get ourselves into another war for whatever reason?"

"You're not... useless. You raise m– "

"I know! You've told me that already. I help raise morale. I make people smile. I keep peoples' spirits up. But sometimes... I want to be able to contribute more than just... smiles."

Lon'qu sighed, "Fine... I'll teach you what I know... But remember... Despite what you think, you're not... entirely useless..." He huffed and quickly tried to hide his red face. Lon'qu was getting irritated with Lissa and her ignorance. Why couldn't she see what he saw? First it was the "good princess" issue, and now she was worried about being useless. Lon'qu was unsure about how to make her see the truth. She was much more helpful than she let on. She was great at healing and using magic. He was confused as to why she was suddenly shifting her focus onto weapons. She had been doing incredibly well with tomes. She was also aware that the war was now over. They were to enter a new era of peace, were they not? Lon'qu was beginning to think that the princess's inferiority complex was worse than his gynophobia. However, for now, he sighed once more and agreed to teach her what he knew.

Days went by, and Lon'qu spent much more time with Lissa, teaching her the basics of weapon maintenance. She didn't catch on as quickly as she liked, but she was getting better at noticing certain flaws. They had also looked at a large variety of weapons. He taught her how to tell when a spearhead was going to fall off, when blades were growing dull, and many other different things.

Finally, Chrom and Robin's wedding was quickly approaching. They had begun preparations for the wedding. The kind lady from the floral shop had delivered all the white hydrangeas, and they were hard at work decorating the castle. Robin spent most of her time cooped up in her room, nervously examining her wedding dress. Lissa had dragged Lon'qu to the city once again to force him to buy a suit.

"You can't attend a wedding looking like that!" Lissa had flashed him a mischievous smile earlier that day, "When I'm done with you, you'll be the most handsome, dapper man in the kingdom!"

"...How about no."

Lon'qu had never had the need to dress formally. He grew up in the slums, and even after he ran away, he spent his days fighting and training nonstop in Regna Ferox. This was the first time he had ever gotten fitted for suit. In fact, it was probably the first time he had ever been near one. It was a completely alien concept to him, and he didn't really enjoy the experience that much.

Ever since he joined the Shepherds, Lon'qu's life had changed drastically. He was exposed to many different things– good and bad. And by bad, he meant the war and getting fitted for a suit.

Most of the change he had experienced dealt with the social aspect of his life. He found himself conversing with others more often. Sometimes, he would talk just because he plain _wanted _to.

Also, his gynophobia was slowly being cured thanks to Lissa. He found himself initiating physical contact more often. Sometimes, he would think back to when he first joined Chrom's army and chuckle to himself. Yes, his swordsmanship had improved drastically, but he also found himself feeling more happy. He considered Vaike a good friend of his now. He had learned much from Gregor, who was much more wise than people let on. And he had fallen for their Ylissean princess, which somewhat humored him to a certain extent.

When they first met, she would constantly try to cling onto his arm, never once letting go. He would yell at her and flail and run around like an idiot for a good ten minutes before she gave in and left him alone. Now, her company puts him at ease. He doesn't mind the sudden arm-clinging or hand-holding as much as he did before. Sometimes, he's the one to hold her hand, which he secretly enjoys.

Now that he thought about it, becoming her bodyguard was probably the best thing that ever happened to him. Sometimes Lon'qu would wonder what his life would be like right now if he wasn't assigned to be her bodyguard. Would someone else have gotten the job? Would they still have ended up this close? Would she be with another man by now? These thoughts constantly plagued him each and every single day. Ever since he had begun to get closer and closer to the healer, his recurring nightmares had gradually vanished. Every now and then, he would have nightmares again, but it didn't happen as frequently as it did before. Lon'qu fully intended to somehow make it up to Lissa for indirectly curing his trauma. The day he had successfully saved her from her assailants, he felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. She was also slowly curing his gynophobia.

Until now, he didn't have the slightest idea of how to thank her, but now he was absolutely sure. Lon'qu wanted to help Lissa with her self-esteem issues.

He wanted her to see what everyone else saw.

Lon'qu wanted her to see what _he _saw.

* * *

A/N: If I'm correct, since Lissa wears a crinoline, I believe that the game takes place in Europe during the Victorian Era? Iunno. I'm just kind of curious because I had to do some research for the previous chapter because I could not remember what a crinoline was. All I could remember was that it looked like a birdcage, and women would wear them under their dresses to make it poofy and help retain its shape.

Anyways, I recently finished my first playthrough, but before I start my second playthrough, I'm trying to max out my characters' stats, haha. I want to prepare a good spotpass team right now. I also have all my pairings for my next playthrough planned out, so I am super duper prepared. I want to play on classic mode, but I haven't filled out my support log yet, so maybe that'll have to wait for some other time :X

Thanks for reading and all the reviews and PMs! I really appreciate it. It makes me really happy to know that some of you really enjoy my story ; v ;

OH YEAH. For those who get alerts for this story, did you get an email for this chapter? Because I didn't, which was very weird. Normally I get an email the moment I update a chapter. I know it may take a few minutes or an hour, but this is kind of unusual? Haha. I'm probably being paranoid.


	9. Wedding Shenanigans

**Wedding Shenanigans**

Chrom was sweating. Of course, there's absolutely nothing wrong with sweating every now and then. However, Chrom was sweating _a lot_, and he was supposed to be getting married in less than twenty minutes. Vaike walked up to the soon-to-be-wed prince and gave him a hearty pat on the back and quickly left the room.

Chrom sighed as Frederick approached him. "My lord, all preparations are in order, and you are expected to be ready within five minutes."

"F-Five minutes?! I thought I had twenty earlier!"

"Yes, milord, you are correct. However, Robin is growing frantic, and, well, we see no reason to postpone it any longer. Your people are anxious to see your dearly beloved, and, frankly enough, I am sure that you certainly want to get this over with." Frederick gave him a warm smile and patted his back like Vaike had done earlier. He then left the room, leaving Chrom all by himself.

"O-Oh gods... I'm about to get... married."

He grabbed his Falchion and attached it to his sash, checking his appearance in the mirror. His eyes slowly wandered to his Mark of the Exalt. "If only you were here, Emm..."

* * *

Lissa anxiously sat between Lon'qu and Maribelle, waiting for Chrom to enter. Their wedding was to be held in the throne room, and all of the Shepherds were in attendance. Suddenly, the grand doors flew open as Chrom entered the room, accompanied by Basilio. Lissa threw her hands over her mouth, trying to contain her laughter. Since their parents had died long ago and Emmeryn had passed, Chrom asked Basilio to walk down the isle with him. Basilio towered over Chrom and was twice his size. It was like the making of a bad wedding comedy. Chrom had originally intended for Frederick to be his best man, but he was occupied with setting up the wedding reception afterwards and the ball that was to follow.

Lissa nudged Lon'qu's arm and softly giggled, "Have you ever seen Basilio in a suit before?"

"No." He scowled and continued to lightly tug his collar, clearly uncomfortable in his suit. "I never even thought that it would be possible for them to tailor one that fit him."

"You have to admit that he looks kinda funny though. _Especially_ next to Chrom."

He smirked, looking up at the strange duo at the front of the room, "...Perhaps." Lon'qu then slowly scanned the room, "Where is Frederick? I always assumed that Frederick would be Chrom's best man."

"Oh, Frederick?" The princess sighed, rolling her eyes, "He's busy preparing for the tonight's feast and ball."

"...Ball?"

Lissa leaned back and grinned, "Yes, Lon'qu. There is going to be a ball, which means dancing! And lots, and _lots_ of women."

Lon'qu's eyes widened, in shock. He then turned to glare at Lissa, "...This better not be another one of your pranks."

"It is not." She pouted.

The doors flew open once again, and this time, everyone was completely silent as Robin slowly trailed behind Nowi who was the flower girl and Ricken, the ring bearer. Chrom's eyes widened as he took in the sight of his bride. He felt a lump in his throat as she finally stood in front of him. Hesitantly, he reached out his hand to remove her veil. Robin nervously smiled at Chrom and fidgeted slightly, tightening her grip on her bouquet.

Chrom anxiously cleared his throat and whispered, thinking that no one else could hear him, "Y-You... Robin, you look... Like a lady– No! I meant..." He took in a deep breath, flustered, and his face now red, "You look stunning."

"Thank you, Chrom... You look very handsome today as well." Robin smiled.

The pastor cleared his throat and began reading a series of texts about the divine Naga and how blessed they were.

When all the vows were said and done, the pastor closed his book and grinned, "You may now kiss the bride."

Chrom swooped down and kissed his wife. His _wife_. Gods, just the thought of associating the word "wife" with "Robin" sent chills down Chrom's spine. Everyone applauded for the newly-wedded couple. Robin lovingly caressed his cheek and kissed him again.

In the background, Old Hubba was heard yelling something along the lines of, "Get a room, you two!"

Lissa rolled her eyes as she stood up to go and congratulate her brother. Lon'qu quickly shifted his eyes to Lissa who was now leaving his side, eager, yet hesitant, to follow her. His eyes darted back and forth before finally getting up and walking up to Chrom. _It'd be rude if I didn't congratulate him. _

"Congratulations, Chrom." Lon'qu stoically said, awkwardly patting him on the back.

"Ah. Thank you, Lon'qu." Chrom awkwardly smiled.

Lon'qu simply nodded and watched as he returned to his wife. Feeling someone tap his shoulder, Lon'qu hastily turned around, alarmed. Lissa looked up at him, grinning, "So... What were you talking to Chrom about?"

"Hm? Nothing much. I was just congratulating him... That's all."

"Oh, I see." Lissa pursed her lips and turned around to see that everyone was starting to exit the palace, and Chrom was leading Robin up the stairs towards the balcony. "We should probably get going now. The banquet should start soon."

Lon'qu simply nodded and followed her out the door. Meanwhile, Chrom gave a speech about the war effort and how they had entered a new era of peace. He talked about Emmeryn's sacrifice and the effect she had on the Plegians. Finally, he introduced Ylisse to his new wife, Robin, their tactician. After much cheering and whistling and clapping, he happily announced that the banquet would begin soon since the sun was now setting.

"Everyone is welcome to enjoy themselves!" Lon'qu remembered Chrom yelling.

Frederick had finished his preparations just in time, with Cherche's help, of course, and Donnel had recently arrived with his mother. Libra, one of their newer comrades, was busy praying. Probably for Chrom and Robin's marriage. Meanwhile, Tharja, another new recruit, who Lon'qu tried to avoid at all costs, was busy mumbling something about hexing Chrom for the rest of his life and making Robin hers.

Lon'qu glanced down at Lissa and finally got the chance to fully take in her appearance. She was wearing a poofy, sleeveless white gown with a sash around her waist. The swordsman slightly blushed as he turned his head away. "Y-You... look nice..." He managed to stutter.

"Why thank you, Lon'qu– D'oh! The dessert table!" Lissa scampered off towards the table filled with confectioneries, hoping to beat Gaius to the cupcakes. Meanwhile, Lon'qu glanced at what appeared and smelled like garlic roasted potatoes, trying to decide whether or not he should eat them first. He was reluctant to eat until he saw Stahl beginning to gorge everything down. _I should probably eat while there's still food left... _

He picked up a plate and grabbed a variety of meats before finally bumping into Stahl who had already eaten about three plates of food.

"Hello, Lon'qu." He greeted, hastily swallowing his food, "The food's great, huh? Gods, I've never seen so much food in my whole life! I think that if I died and went to heaven, this is what it would look like."

Lon'qu slowly nodded, "...I guess. I've never seen this much food before either. I don't really know what to eat first."

Stahl shrugged, "When in doubt, just take one of everything. That's what I do."

"...How do you eat so much?"

"I don't really know. Fast metabolism? Anyways, see you later! I think I'm going to check up on Panne."

Lon'qu awkwardly poked at its food before finally trying some. "Hmm? He was right. The food _is_ great."

He felt someone nudge his arm and turned his head to see a mess of blonde in his face. "Ah... You're back."

Lissa eyed his plate of food, "The food's really good, right?"

"Yeah. It's probably the best thing I've ever eaten. I've never really had food of this high quality before. Growing up, it was really difficult just to afford bread, and when I lived in Ferox, the weather was constantly changing, making growing crops and stuff very difficult. We always managed to harvest good potatoes though."

"Oh... Say, is that why you're so good at peeling potatoes?! Because you are a potato peeling machine."

"I guess you're right to a certain extent."

The orchestra suddenly started to play, indicating that the ball was starting. Lissa pushed Lon'qu back into the palace and led him to the ball room before finally holding onto his arm. She smiled and did a small curtsey before holding her hand in front of her, "If it's no bother, Lon'qu, may I have this dance?"

The swordsman blushed and hesitantly took her hand, nodding, "...O-Okay..."

Lissa pulled him to the dance floor and motioned for him to put his other hand on her waist, which caused his face to grow even redder, which amused the princess. She giggled, gently placing his hand on her waist for him, "Don't worry, Lon'qu. There's nothing to worry about! Think about this as a giant hurdle you must overcome your gynophobia, okay? And... you need to have some fun every now and then. You're always so serious, and well..." She felt her face grow hot and nervously looked into Lon'qu's eyes, "I like it a lot when you smile, so cheer up, okay?"

Lon'qu's face turned beet red, and he awkwardly tried to dance with Lissa. Emphasis on the word _tried_.

"I-I'll try my best not to step on your feet." Lissa blurt out, her face still red.

"I think that's supposed to be my line." Lon'qu chuckled, starting to get more comfortable with his current situation. He awkwardly attempted to mirror Lissa's movements, making sure that he didn't step on her. When he finally got into the rhythm, things started to go smoothly. They danced in a small circle, much like everyone else. _What do I do next? Do I just keep doing the same thing over and over again? No. Wait. I'm supposed to have her twirl a few times, right? How do I?... Argh! This is all so complicated!_

He nervously observed Vaike and Miriel but then quickly realized that trying to learn something from watching them dance was a terrible decision. He then shifted his attention to Maribelle and Gaius. Lon'qu then shifted his focus to the not-so-delicate princess he was currently dancing with. Lissa had a goofy smile plastered on her face the whole time, and her cheeks were still a light shade of pink. Lon'qu slightly gripped her hand a little tighter and lifted her arm up and around, causing her to suddenly spin around. Lissa started to giggle as they went back to dancing in circles, and Lon'qu was desperately trying not to crack a smile. Obviously, he failed _miserably_. Lissa's smile and laughter was contagious, and eventually, the stoic swordmaster found himself starting to genuinely _enjoy_ what was currently happening. He just felt so free, much like when he used to run around catching butterflies in his youth.

The music suddenly stopped, and everyone finally realized how late it had gotten. Lon'qu let go of Lissa, and she curtsied while he awkwardly bowed.

"T-Thank you for allowing me to have this dance..." Lon'qu stuttered.

"My pleasure."

* * *

Lon'qu insisted on getting some fresh air and thanked Lissa for her time. Unbeknownst to him, Lissa had followed him outside. She tried to sneak up on and him and scare him, but failed miserably.

"I know you're there." Lon'qu slowly turned around to acknowledge her presence.

She awkwardly laughed at her failure and fidgeted with her fingers, "I was just wondering if you were okay. When you said that you needed some fresh air, I thought that maybe you were upset. Oh, please don't tell me you were just uncomfortable because if you were, I am _so, so_ sorry. If you didn't really want to dance with me, it's okay. I understand! No, really, I do! I was being kind of pushy, so that's very understandable..." Her voice started to trail off as she avoided his gaze.

"...I had fun."

"Look, I'm really sorry, and if you don't really want me to bother you or talk to you anymore, I'll just go back home to my room, and I'll leave you alone from now on– Wait, what?!... What did you just say?"

"I really enjoyed myself tonight..." He articulated, hoping that she wouldn't get the wrong idea.

A rosy color suddenly spread across her cheeks as she tried to comprehend what Lon'qu had just said. "Wait... You sound like you actually enjoy having a girl bother you! But... But I thought you didn't like women! I don't understand!"

Lon'qu sighed, taking a step forward, his face turning beet red, "You... You're the exception... I-I do have a problem with women, but I'm okay around you... A-And I think I'm starting to get better... thanks to you.."

He held her gaze, not saying a single word, watching as the princess stammered, trying to find the right words to say.

"L-Lon'qu..." Lissa started to play with her hair, twirling it over and over again, "Well... If what you say is true... Then..." She paused and walked towards Lon'qu until she was directly in front of him.

"No more distance?"

Lon'qu nodded, gently smiling, "...No more distance."

Lissa clung onto his arm as he walked her back to the palace, up to her room, and bade her good night. When Lon'qu returned to the comfort of his room, he quickly changed into more comfortable clothes. Memories of their dance flashed through his mind, and he blushed again. He gently smiled to himself when he remembered what they had recently talked about before returning to the palace. Before going to bed, he looked out of his window and noticed something.

There was a bright blue butterfly outside, resting on the window sill, and when Lon'qu decided to finally go to bed, it promptly fluttered away, as if it were watching over him, now leaving knowing that he was okay.

"Ke'ri..." Lon'qu muttered before falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

A/N: How long has it been since the last update? Way too long! I was planning on finishing this chapter weeks ago, but stress from school got in the way, which made it very difficult to write. However, I'm back now! I'm not very pleased with this chapter, and I admit that it could be better, but knowing that it's finished lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. Once again, thank you all very much for all the reviews! I really appreciate everything all of you have to say.


	10. While These Days Last

This chapter has been delayed long enough. So here it is! Chapter 10!

* * *

**While These Days Last**

"Lon'qu, have you always been afraid of women?"

"...No."

The blonde princess tilted her head and frowned in deep thought. She furrowed her brow a few times before finally asking another question, "So... Why are you afraid of women anyways? Did something happen?"

Lon'qu sighed. He knew that he would have to explain everything some day, but he did not expect that day to be _today_. "Yes... It was a very long time ago. But it's also kind of a long story– "

"Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Lissa clasped her hands together and bounced up and down. "Maybe if you tell me, I will be able to help you get better! Plus, I've never actually heard you tell a story before, so this is kind of exciting."

"...Well, for starters, a long time ago when I was a kid living in the slums, I had a friend named Ke'ri. We were very close and spent a lot of time together as kids."

Lissa nodded, letting him know that she was paying attention.

The swordsman grimaced slightly as he continued his tale, "However, one day, we were attacked by bandits... I-I tried to protect her, but I failed... Instead, she was the one who protected me. And because of my weakness... she died. Her parents also blamed me for her death. Because of that, I ran away from home in shame and guilt... Never looked back since... I ran away to Ferox, and Basilio raised me ever since. And because of all of that, I've been afraid of getting close to women. I'm afraid that if they get too close to me, they'll end up getting hurt like she did..."

He sighed and slowly leaned back onto the tree they were sitting under. He awkwardly glanced at Lissa waiting for her to say something. Lissa glanced at Lon'qu and sighed, "Lon'qu... So that's why you're uneasy around women... I would've never guessed– No! No one would've ever suspected that something like that had happened!"

"Did you assume that I was always naturally strong or something along those lines?"

The blonde pouted and puffed her cheeks in a child-like manner, "...Maybe..."

He tried to suppress a smile, "...Well, now you know..."

"Well, how is your gynophobia... these days..."

"A lot better than what it has been in the past. Thanks to you." Lon'qu gazed up at the clear sky and began to absentmindedly ramble, "However, I think it really started to get better after I foiled that assassin plot... I mean, all of my problems were caused by the fact that I failed to protect Ke'ri, and when I succeeded in protecting you... I don't know... I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders." He turned his head to face Lissa, and he felt his lips curl into a small smile, "...Plus it's nice to know that all those years of training paid off..."

Lissa giggled, "You know, Lon'qu... It's funny how we can talk like this now."

"...How so?"

"Well, for starters, when we first met, you yelled at me!" Lissa's face contorted into into an extreme frown, and she narrowed her eyes before yelling in the deepest voice she could muster (which really wasn't that deep), "AWAY, WOMAN!"

"I do not sound like that!... Nor do I look like that..."

The princess snorted, "Yes you do! You always sound really grumpy."

"No I don't!"

"Yes. You. Do."

They stared down each other in silence for a good minute or two. Right when Lon'qu was about to say something, Lissa quickly interjected, mischievously smiling, "Grump."

Lon'qu opened his mouth as if he were trying to say something, but he quickly shut it. Instead, he grumbled to himself, causing Lissa to triumphantly grin. Although he hated to admit like, much like how he hated to admit many other things, he enjoyed letting Lissa win every now and then. Lon'qu hated defeat, but seeing Lissa smile like that made him feel somewhat elated. Her self-esteem was now also much improved. Though he doubted that it was actually because of him that she saw herself in a more positive light.

She gazed at Lon'qu and gave him a warm smile. For a second, Lon'qu thought that she was staring at him almost... lovingly. However, he quickly dismissed the thought. After all, why would someone like her feel that way towards a grump like him? He hesitantly locked eyes with her, and surprisingly, she didn't look away. However, things started to get kind of awkward for Lon'qu, so he nervously cleared his throat, causing Lissa to jump slightly and turn red.

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck and propped himself up, "Ahem... I think it's about time that I go and see Vaike..."

"A-Ah... I almost forgot that you two were sparring today."

Lon'qu helped her up, and watched as she brushed her dress off before dashing off and waving good-bye, "I'll see you later, Lon'qu!"

He waved good-bye and headed towards the castle training grounds.

* * *

"Hey, Lon'qu, say... You mind if lil' Donny here joins us today?"

"...I have no objections."

Donnel sprinted off to grab his sword, and he quickly returned with a goofy smile on his face, "Well I'm mightly glad y'all are letting me train with y'all today."

Vaike roughly patted him on the back, "No problem! And Teach'll gladly teach you a few tricks if you'd like."

"Really? Well, shoot! I think I'm gonna have a darn tootin' good time then! Oh, and if ya' have any time after this, be sure ta' thank Chrom for me. I really appreciate him letting me stay here."

"I can relay that message for you later on if you would like."

Everyone turned their heads to see Frederick slowly emerging from the darkness.

"What are you doing here?" Vaike questioned.

Frederick's grin grew wider and much more eery, "Well, it just so happens that you are just in time for Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour!"

"Wait you're _still _doing that?!"

Frederick nodded, "Why of course. After all, I must stay in perfect shape. Even though the war has ended, I must retain my current physical shape in case something may happen. Since I also train new soldiers, I must also set a good example.

Vaike sighed, "Well, Frederick, you see... We were about to spar a bit– "

"We'll do it." Lon'qu interjected. "I agree with your reasoning."

"Good. We'll begin... now!" Frederick smiled.

Suddenly, Chrom's voice echoed from a nearby corridor, "FREDERICK!"

"Yes, Milord? What is the matter?! Did something happen?"

Chrom sighed and massaged his temple, "My office... You cleaned it..."

"Why... Yes I did. I organized all of your documents, files, writing utensils, and books. I also polished the desk, dusted the shelves, and cleaned the floors. Are you unsatisfied? If you would like, I could clean again– "

"No, Frederick... That will not be necessary."

"Then what is the problem?"

"Well, remember that chat we had a few months ago? Well, you're doing it again." Chrom frowned, "I really appreciate you doing all of this for me, but it's really not necessary. Plus, now that you have reorganized everything, I can't find anything anymore! It wasn't a mess. It was _organized chaos_."

"I-I'm sorry. I'll see that it never happens again!"

Chrom smiled, "Thank you, Frederick. Please don't misunderstand me! I really appreciate everything you've done for me and my family, but you need to worry about yourself sometimes! Have some fun every now and then."

"I... will try, milord."

The bluenette quickly returned to his office, and Frederick cleared his throat, "Ahem! We shall begin now."

He firmly placed his hand on Lon'qu's shoulder as if trying to reassure him about something. Lon'qu awkwardly turned his head to find that Vaike and Donnel had fled the area.

Frederick simply smiled.

* * *

Lon'qu was no where to be found for a whole week, and Lissa was starting to grow worried. She paced back and forth down the hallway before finally deciding to barge into Lon'qu's room.

"Gods, Lon'qu! What have you been doing?!"

Lissa saw Lon'qu resting in bed and frowned. "Why are you in bed?"

"...Frederick's... Fanatical... Fitness... Hour..."

The princess simply nodded her head, finally understanding the situation. "It was intense, wasn't it?"

"...Very... I was so set on staying in good shape, so I took up his offer without hesitation... Vaike and Donnel abandoned me without warning... It was... terrible."

"Was it really _that _bad?"

Lon'qu weakly nodded his head. "I think I pulled or strained a few muscles, and I was instructed to rest until I fully recovered... They said that I was not allowed to do anything extremely physical, which meant no training."

Lissa giggled, "M-Maybe you should've..." She tried to suppress her laughter and snorted, "_Picked a god and prayed!_"

She burst out laughing at her punchline and wiped a tear from her eye. "Whew! Oh, Gods... That one was good."

Groaning, Lon'qu propped himself up and frowned at Lissa. "...That was far from amusing!"

"Pfft. That's only because you have no sense of humor." She then laughed and insisted that she was joking before continuing, "Anyways... Have you been taking warm baths?"

"No. I prefer cool water."

"H-Huh? Why? Warm water is so relaxing!"

"It's just what I'm accustomed to..." Lon'qu sighed, "In Ferox, the weather changes very haphazardly, so there isn't an abundance of warm water. Plus there are no hot springs in Ferox."

Lissa slowly nodded, "Ah... I see. Well, you should start taking warm baths for the time being. It may relieve some of the pain."

"...I see."

The princess pulled up a chair so she could sit and asked, "Have you eaten anything yet?"

"No."

She frowned, "Fine. Wait here, and I'll be back with something for you to eat. I know you were ordered to rest, but it doesn't mean you're not allowed to get up and do anything."

"...I go on walks sometimes."

"Are you sure you weren't just catching butterflies? Oh and I don't know... Having fun?"

"For the last time... I do not do that!"

Lissa slowly left the room giggling, "_Sure_ you don't." After leaving, she turned around stuck her head into the doorway, smiling, before leaving again, "There's nothing wrong with having fun every now and then, Lon'qu."

* * *

Upon entering the kitchen, Lissa fumbled around looking for plates and utensils before looking to see if there was any food spared.

There was absolutely nothing.

She groaned in frustration, "I should've known they wouldn't have any leftovers. This is a _royal palace_ for Gods' sakes. This isn't like back during the war when we saved everything."

Lissa opened and closed all the cabinets over and over again. She let her current situation slowly sink in. Then it hit her.

"I have to... _cook something edible_."

She frantically paced back and forth, her heels clicking against the tiles over and over again, imitating the sound of a clock, which started to increase her paranoia.

"But I don't know how to cook! Well, it's never too late to learn, right? In the end, I'll be more lady-like, right? I mean, this is for Lon'qu, and I promised that I'd get something for him to eat." She paused then quickly grabbed a few pots and pans and spatulas and a multitude of ingredients. "Okay, Lissa! You can do this! I can make something simple... Like soup! Beef stew? Potatoes can't be that hard to prepare either, right? Lon'qu likes potatoes..."

If there was one thing Lissa knew how to properly do, it was boil water, so she did that first. She found a ladle and put it off to the side. Lissa scrambled around the kitchen to find some unused beef. She found a decent-sized chunk and cringed the moment her skin came in contact with the raw meat. She stuck her tongue out in disgust and chucked it into the sink. "Blech! Gross! It's all slimy..."

While she was cleaning the meat, she heard a strange bubbling noise from the pot and rushed over to slightly lower the heat since it was finally boiling. Lissa took in a deep breath and grabbed a cutting board and knife. After she prepared the meat, she put it off to the side and grabbed whatever vegetables she could find, and she _attempted_ to peel the skin off. She hastily threw them all into the boiling pot of water along with the meat.

Lissa took a seat in a nearby chair and slumped down, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead, "Whew... That went... okay– " She let a gasp escape her mouth, and she quickly got up, "I forgot to add in salt and seasoning!"

The princess scrutinized all the spices and seasonings before finally eying the salt. "How much am I supposed to put in?"

She haphazardly threw in an unmeasured amount of salt along with many different kinds of powders she ravaged from the pantry. Lissa then eyed the potatoes sitting at the end of the counter. She rubbed her chin before deciding to make roasted potatoes.

"Peeling potatoes should be a piece of cake! I mean, Lon'qu does it all the time. I wonder what his fastest time is."

Lissa sat down and started to peel the first potato but kept failing miserably. However, she paused when she heard footsteps right outside the entrance. When she looked up, Lon'qu was in front of her.

"...What are you doing?"

"Getting you something to eat?"

Lon'qu sighed, "I thought you would be back soon since you are one of the few people who manage not to get lost in this place... But when you didn't return, I was... worried..."

"O-Oh... I see." Lissa began to absentmindedly continue to peel the potatoes, not paying attention to what her hands were doing. She stuttered, "W-Well, I came down here to see if there was anything extra for you to eat, but turns out, they already threw all the garbage and leftover out. I thought that I could be of some use if I made you something to eat."

"Lissa, watch what you're doing!"

Lissa jumped at his sudden change in tone and felt a sharp searing pain on her index finger. "Ouch!"

She looked down and saw a thin trail of blood trickle down the length of her finger. Lon'qu quickly grabbed her hand to inspect her wound, "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Go wash it in the sink, and I'll go get some gauze from the medical room... Do not leave this room."

She nodded her head and quickly washed her hands to prevent any infection before plopping back down into her chair. When Lon'qu returned, he hastily kneeled down and gently cupped her hand in his palm. He slowly wrapped the gauze around her finger. Lon'qu let out a deep sigh when he finished. He glanced up to see a sullen look on her face.

Lon'qu let out out another deep sigh, "...If you want... I can show you how to properly peel potatoes... But only if you want."

The swordsman noticed a sudden change in her demeanor and slightly smiled to himself. He pulled up a stool and asked Lissa to hand him her knife. They were so caught up in their potato-peeling lesson that they completely forgot about the stew. When they finally realized what was happening, the pot was already over-flowing, and the stew got all over the floor. They exchanged an apprehensive glance before quickly cleaning the mess. However, when they finished, Lissa asked Lon'qu to try her stew. It smelled okay to him, so he took a large gulp.

Big mistake.

It was the worst thing he had tasted in his entire life. However, he couldn't bring himself to tell her that, so he lied and told her that it was delicious.

A decision he greatly regretted.

* * *

Ever since that day, Lissa constantly barged into the kitchen and insisted on borrowing it for "only a little while." She tried to make a large variety of things. Lissa would make curry, different stews, casseroles, and she had recently begun to take an interest in baking. Because of this, Gaius started to hover around the kitchen, but after one bite, he never came back.

This went on for many months, and every once in a while, Lissa would take a break for a few weeks, which was a blessing to Lon'qu. Eventually, another month passed, and every single day was a new experience for both of them. However, one day all of this ended.

Chrom was called to a meeting in the throne room by Virion and Cherche. They were going to wage war with Valm. When Lissa heard the news, she was outraged and locked herself up in her room, occasionally letting Maribelle and Lon'qu in once every few days. Eventually, Lon'qu talked some sense into her, although it came out a bit harsher than he intended it to be. She promptly apologized to her brother, and everything was somewhat stable again. In a few days, they were to pack and begin to march to Port Ferox.

"What do you think about all of this?" Lissa asked.

"I don't really know..."

Lissa let out a depressed sigh before mumbling under her breath, "An era of peace, huh? I have a bad feeling about this..."

* * *

A/N: So now we're getting back into plot-ish stuff. I want to focus on battle scenes more often in this half of the story since I really need more experience in writing those, haha. I've been really busy with schools, but thankfully, I have finals in two weeks which means two weeks until Summer! Once Summer comes, I'll have much more time to write. I would also like to thank everyone who has been following this story and leaving comments and reviews. I really appreciate everything you guys have to say although I rarely reply to them. I just never know what to say. I'm also really looking forward to introducing the children and including interactions between characters that aren't Lissa and Lon'qu.

edit: 06.04.13: Totally forgot that Lucina doesn't join until the next chapter. Whoops.

06.12.13: I accidentally forgot that they went to Port Ferox before meeting with Validar, so I adjusted that minor mistake.


	11. Reckless

**Reckless**

After a few days of traveling, they had finally arrived at Port Ferox. Robin cleared her throat, "Do we have everything?"

Frederick immediately reported to Robin, "Yes. All our supplies are packed. Do you want us to leave the carts here?"

The tactician nodded. Suddenly, she felt an arrow quickly whiz by almost grazing the side of her face. She urgently turned around, arming herself with a thunder tome, "An ambush?!"

"What?!" Chrom quickly ran to Robin's side and noticed a large ship docked nearby.

They were harassing the villagers and plundering their homes. They saw an innocent man pleading to someone who appeared to be their leader, but it was futile. He was executed on the spot.

"We have to stop them!" Chrom unsheathed his Falchion and cautiously moved forward.

Robin followed suite. "Sumia, Cordelia, Olivia! I want you all to cover the right side. Vaike, Ricken, and Tharja, go with them and take out any archers and heavily armored knights!"

Cherche suddenly flew in on her wyvern, "Perhaps I can lend a hand? I know that this is not my country, but it is part of my cause. Also, I am quite sure that Minerva wants to have a little fun."

"Thank you, Cherche!" Robin brushed a few silver hairs out of her eyes and quickly started to analyze the rest of their enemies. "Cherche, come with Chrom and I to the front lines. Panne, Lon'qu, Lissa, Stahl, and Gaius, take care of the soldiers to our left. Everyone else, rescue any citizens!"

Robin took a deep breath and looked up at their new recruit,

Cherche narrowed her eyes, "This is a ship from Valm. We must stop them as soon as possible. We cannot allow them to do anymore damage this port!"

Everyone hastily assumed their positions. Robin's eyes quickly darted back and forth, worried about the Dark Fliers to her right. She knew it was always risky to send all three of them together in a group, but she needed all the mages to be dispatched as quickly as possible. A lot of their soldiers lacked resistance to magic, but some was better than none.

She watched as Chrom and Cherche cut down the soldiers guarding the ship. Robin opened her tome and focused her energy into the palm of her hand before throwing it at an archer that was about to shoot at Cherche. A bolt of thunder flew out of her hands and shot straight through the man's chest. Suddenly, a paladin charged at Chrom, who sidestepped out of the way. Cherche's wyvern quickly gained altitude to dodge his spear before swooping back down and swinging her hammer. She managed to break the paladin's left shoulder. Robin hastily seized the opportunity to strike and blasted him with two consecutive bolts of thunder which pierced through his chest plate, effectively killing him.

As the man fell from his horse, they finally boarded onto the ship. Robin could hear the flapping of a pegasus quickly approaching them which meant that her fliers were okay. She saw a blurred blob of red in the corner of her eye.

"All soldiers to the right have been taken care of, Robin."

Robin quickly glanced at Cordelia and nodded before letting out a sigh of relief, "That's good."

"Olivia and Sumia are helping out Frederick and the others with rescuing the citizens since we can't damage the mounted soldiers with our spears."

'Great work, Cordelia!"

Robin watched as Chrom did an impressive somersault in the air before smashing his sword into another paladin. She smirked, "Impressive."

They had finally advanced to the main deck of the ship. However, Cordelia stayed behind, deeply sighing as she watched Chrom and Robin take down their commander in perfect formation. She temporarily brushed her thoughts off and flew towards Sumia and the others, hoping to keep her mind off of the pain lingering in her heart.

* * *

Lissa casted a healing spell on Lon'qu who recklessly threw himself in front of her to shield her from a blow. "Stop being so reckless, Lon'qu! I'm pretty sure I could've dodged that!"

"What if you didn't dodge that?!" Lon'qu grunted, thrusting his killing edge into a bow knight's throat. He cleanly pulled his blade out and skillfully dispatched three more soldiers.

"See, now you're just showing off!" Lissa pouted before focusing her attention on Gaius who looked like he was struggling. She scrambled towards the assassin and casted Mend before running back to Lon'qu.

"Don't run off like that! Now _you're_ being reckless!"

"Well I'm _sorry _for doing my job!"

Lon'qu sighed as he dispatched another mounted unit, "Now is not the time to be bickering!"

Lissa looked around, trying to ignore Lon'qu and grinned, "Hey, I think we've won!" She started to jump up and down, "Woo! Yeah!"

The swordsman sheathed his blade and let out a sigh of relief, "At last, this battle is over." He hesitantly glanced at all the men he had cut down before grimacing and looking away.

"Let's go, Lissa."

The princess bobbed her head up and down and followed Lon'qu who was headed towards Chrom.

Chrom ran towards Lissa, "Are you okay?"

Lissa groaned, "I'm _fine, _Chrom. I'm fine."

The Exalt let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness..." Chrom cleared his throat and called for everyone to gather around him. "Frederick! Status report!"

"Yes, milord! Our supplies were untouched. There are a few of our soldiers that are suffering from minor injuries, but aside from that, there were no casualties. And all the villagers were saved. What shall our next course of action should be?"

Robin glanced at the Valmese ship and rubbed her chin in deep thought. "In our current condition, there's no way we can fight this war... The commander of this fleet was very powerful as well. In order to even reach Valm, there is a high chance that we will have to fight them in the sea, which means inevitable defeat for us, for we have no ships. We are also low on money..."

"Are you saying that we should just give up?" Chrom suddenly raised his voice.

"No, Chrom... That's not what I'm trying to say. What I'm trying to say is... We can't win this war on our own. We need help."

"...What kind of help?"

The tactician looked hesitant to respond. She let out a deep sigh before answering her husband's question, "I think it's high time we meet Plegia's new king..."

Frederick quickly interjected, "Do you honestly think that _they_ will be willing to aid our cause? I understand that we are at a disadvantage at the moment, but do we really have no other choice?"

"I understand that they may decline, but desperate times call for desperate measures, Frederick the Wary. The country of Plegia is set near an ocean, so they obviously have a generous supply of ships."

"But how can you be so certain that they will provide us with anything at all?"

Robin groaned before slowly massaging her temples, "But I'm not certain at all. This is risky, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. However, first and foremost, once all the wounded soldiers have been treated, we should return to Ylisstol."

Chrom nodded, "I agree with you, Robin, but I think that we should just rest here for tonight. I'm sure that we can get rooms at the inn over there. Our soldiers must be tired, and if we go back to Ylisstol now, it'll be incredibly difficult. After all, the Feroxi weather doesn't take kindly to outsiders, am I right?" Chrom finished his statement with a small smile on his face.

When his wife gave him an okay, everyone cheered.

Lissa grinned, "Finally! I get to actually sleep in an actual bed!"

When she looked up at Lon'qu, she noticed that he looked fairly pleased as well. Her eyes trailed down to his hand. Right when she was about to grab it, she quickly pulled her hand back when she noticed a large cut on the inside of his hand. It looked fresh, and it was still somewhat bleeding. Lissa abruptly grabbed his wrist, which caught him off-guard.

"W-What are you doing?!"

She furrowed her brow when she noticed how deep the cut actually was. "Lon'qu, why didn't you tell me about this?!"

The princess glared at him, aggressively pointing at the wound to make her point, "It's still bleeding, and it's also very deep! Did you think that the cut would magically heal itself through perseverance?! It could get infected which would, ultimately, make it heal even slower!"

Lon'qu flinched at her sudden tone of voice before nervously looking down at his bleeding hand, "...I'm... sorry..." He mumbled.

She impatiently put her free hand on her hip before letting out an exasperated sigh, "I guess it can't be helped... You've been fighting very recklessly lately..." Lissa casted a healing spell and watched as the wound slowly closed up. "Let's get you to a room so I can properly bandage this. I don't have any gauze on me right now, so we'll have to wait until everyone is situated."

Lissa followed everyone into the inn with Lon'qu trailing behind her. She could hear his silent footsteps, hesitantly following her. _Hm? That's strange... He's walking slower than usual. _

Once they had secured rooms and split everyone into groups of four, Lissa found the first-aid kit and took out a small roll of gauze. She followed Lon'qu into his assigned room watched as he slowly sat down on the bed. Lissa pulled up a small chair and asked him to hold out has hand. While bandaging his hand, she started to hum a simple tune.

"...What are you humming?" Lon'qu suddenly asked.

Lon'qu watched as the princess's countenance drastically changed, causing him to instantly regret asking.

Lissa grimaced, "...It's a lullaby Emm used to sing..."

Lon'qu felt guilty and quickly apologized, "S-Sorry for asking... I didn't mean to bring back painful memories..."

"N-No! It's okay. I'm fine, really!"

He knew deep down inside that she _really_ was not okay. Emmeryn's death had greatly affected not only her but everyone as well in one way or another, and the whole war was like the cherry on top. The war and all its casualties had hardened Lissa and changed her in ways. Although, he had to admit that she was really good at hiding it. Lissa had matured in a way. She no longer took unnecessary risks and stopped acting before thinking. She was less... reckless. Lon'qu assessed the actions he took during the recent battle. Lissa was right. He was reckless. Rather than strategically maneuvering around his enemies and effectively taking them all out the way he usually did, Lon'qu simply charged in.

He let his heart cloud his judgment.

Lon'qu cursed under his breath.

"Hm? You look frustrated. What's wrong, Lon'qu?" Lissa asked, now finished bandaging his hand.

"I _was _being reckless today..." He closed his eyes and sighed, "...I won't let that happen again."

"Lon'qu, you don't need to beat yourself up over a scratch, y'know?"

"It's not about that! ...Never mind."

Lissa put her hands on her hips and scowled, "Then what's wrong, Lon'qu?! This isn't like you." Her face softened as she picked up his injured hand again, gently holding it. "You can tell me anything, y'know? We're best friends, right? And remember your promise? 'No more distance!' So tell me what's bothering you and cheer up!"

"...You remember how Chrom asked me to be your bodyguard because of that assassination plot?"

"Yeah! Of course I remember, Lon'qu. And I also remember how quickly you took them all out too! It was crazy how quickly the battle ended! Oh, and!..."

Lon'qu watched as Lissa rambled on, enthusiastically recalling many events from the previous war.

"There's also that time when I got you lost in that forest! Gods, that was frustrating! But when I think back to that time, it's actually pretty funny because I was actually leading us in the right direction! And you know what? _You_ kept insisting that camp was towards the _opposite_ direction!"

The bedroom door suddenly flew open, causing Lissa to jump slightly. Vaike, Stahl, and Gaius walked in. Lissa turned around and greeted them before slowly standing up and fixing her dress. "Well I should be going now..."

She skipped out the door and waved good-bye before finally closing it. Lon'qu frowned as she closed the door. _I never got to tell her what was wrong..._ He sighed and examined his bandaged hand. _Oh well... I'll just have to tell her some other day._

"So what was Princess doing here?" Gaius asked, pulling out a lollipop out of what appeared to be thin air.

Lon'qu simply held up his bandaged hand before finally asking, "...Where do you keep all that candy?!"

Upon hearing the word candy, Stahl quickly walked up to Gaius, "Do you mind sharing some, Gaius? I'm starving!"

Gaius glared at him, "Over your dead body."

"O-Oh... I see..." Stahl trudged over to his bed in defeat and sat down. "But really... I'm starving!"

"Teach suggests that we go to the tavern!"

"Oh, Gods, no..." Lon'qu massaged his forehead upon hearing Vaike's suggestion. He knew that Gaius would definitely agree, and Stahl was definitely too hungry to pass up a chance to eat. Knowing this, Lon'qu knew that they would force him to go with them against his will.

He was going to have a long night.

* * *

The four of them were seated in a circular wooden table in a random corner of the tavern. They were all enjoying their alcohol. Except for Lon'qu, that is. Lon'qu awkwardly stared at his full glass and half-eaten plate of food. He had sworn off alcohol because of its side-effects. The owner of the tavern had insisted that he give them all free drinks since he recognized that they were Shepherds. Lon'qu politely declined, but he was poured a glass anyways.

"Hey you gonna drink that?" Vaike asked, putting down his fourth empty glass of the night.

Lon'qu shook his head, pushing the glass away, "It's all yours."

Gaius casually leaned back and smirked, "So, Muscles... I see you haven't been hanging around Cordelia that much lately. Something happen?" He asked, pulling out a teddy bear shaped lollipop to suck on.

"Oh her? I gave up on her. Figured that Teach didn't have a chance."

"Crivens! Teach, are you by chance drunk or something?" The thief put down his lollipop, and Stahl stared at Vaike with his mouth half-open and full.

The warrior took a swig of beer before groaning, "I just figured that I didn't stand a chance. She's smitten for Chrom, and everyone knows it. I thought that maybe if I managed to become a better fighter and defeat him, she would give ol' Teach a chance. But let's face it. Despite Chrom bein' married, she still only has eyes for him, but lucky for me, I've moved on."

"It's good that you moved on," Lon'qu said before taking another bite of his food.

Gaius smiled, "So... You moved on, eh? Who are you seein' now?"

Vaike's face turned red, "None of your business!"

"Oh, I dunno. Perhaps someone like..." The thief mischievously smirked, twirling his lollipop.

"If I'm thinking of who you're thinking of, it's not _her!_"

"How can you be so sure we're thinkin' of the same person, Teach?"

Stahl swallowed his food and smiled, "Who, Maribelle? Because I see the two of you talking a lot lately."

The warrior's face turned even redder. Gaius put away his lollipop and started to laugh while unwrapping some taffy, "_Twinkles_? She ain't bad, but I never thought that she'd be your type of gal. And judging by how red your face is, now I really can't tell if you're drunk or not."

"He's just embarrassed," Stahl said, happily taking another large bite out of his steak.

Lon'qu chuckled knowing that Vaike had walked straight into Gaius's trap. He watched as Vaike slammed the table and challenged Gaius to a duel. However, Gaius simply sat there, popping another taffy into his mouth, and declined. Stahl managed to calm Vaike down, and it was quiet once more.

The thief then took out a half-eaten bar of chocolate and suspiciously eyed Stahl who quickly spoke up when he noticed that Gaius's attention had shifted to him, "I know what you're about to ask, so I'm just going to tell you that Panne and I are–"

Vaike suddenly raised his voice and demanded two more glasses of beer before leaning over the table and eying Lon'qu with curiosity. When the waiter came with his two glasses, he slid one over to Lon'qu. "One won't hurt ya."

Lon'qu sighed and hesitantly accepted the alcoholic beverage, "You're not going to stop until I say yes, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Now go on. Enjoy yourself."

He frowned and took a few sips of the alcoholic beverage. Vaike triumphantly grinned, "So I've been meaning to ask you this for a while, and I'm sure the rest of us have been thinking it too... Is there something going on between you and the princess?"

"FINALLY! Someone asks the question I've been dying to ask all night." Gaius took out his lollipop again and rested his elbows on the table.

Lon'qu stuttered as his face turned beet red, N-No! That's absurd! I am only to serve as her bodyguard and nothing more!"

The swordsman absentmindedly took another sip of beer. Stahl raised his brow in disbelief, and Gaius chuckled to himself.

"Hey, Stabby, it's okay if you like Princess. We won't judge you." Gaius leaned back again and licked his lollipop, "Plus, it's been very obvious that you're into her."

"But I don't!– "

"You don't need to deny it, Lon'qu. It's okay to like a girl even if you're scared of them." Stahl sympathetically smiled, feeling bad for the Feroxi.

"If you want, Teach can help you win her heart!"

"I don't!– " Lon'qu was cut off again, and he took gulp of his drink in frustration.

A few minutes and a few gulps of beer later, the trio watched as Lon'qu's face started to flush red.

"...Why are there... so many people?" Lon'qu asked, stretching out every single word, slightly swaying in his seat.

"Relax, Slim. There's only three of us."

Lon'qu suddenly jumped out of his seat and unsheathed his killing edge. Everyone quickly calmed the drunk Feroxi and had him sit back down before anymore attention was drawn towards them.

"Now let us ask you a few questions." Gaius scooted closer to him and put his candy back in his pocket. "Do you like Princess?"

"...Princess? Who's that?"

The thief groaned, "Lissa."

"OH, LISSA! I _loooove_ her." Lon'qu responded with a large grin on his face, which caught everyone off-guard for a few seconds.

"Aw... Ain't that cute. Stabby's in love– "

"But... y-youknowwhat?! I reaaally don't undershtand her sometimes... She has such loooow self-esteeeeeem, and didyaknowthat... she _scolded _me today?! She said I was bein' re-recklessssh! Shedoesn'tunderstanddammit! ...I jusht wanna protect her!"

Stahl noticed that Lon'qu was about to drink some more alcohol, so he quickly took the glass away from him. He frowned, "Vaike, I think you should have this."

"Yeah... I think that's a good idea." Vaike chugged down the rest of the glass's contents and rubbed the back of his head as he watched Lon'qu, somewhat afraid. "Gods, I'm actually really scared right now. Who knows what he's gonna do next. He just did a freaking one-eighty on us. A few minutes ago, he was smilin' like he was the happiest man in Ylisse! Or... Ferox? I dunno, but that's besides the point! Now he looks like he's gonna burst into tears!"

Gaius laughed, "Hey, Muscles, maybe he'll shove that sword of his into our throats next!"

"T-That's not funny, Gaius!" Stahl yelled, ready to run out the door and go home. "I think you two have had your fun. We should really go back now."

"I'm only joking, Green. But seriously. We should probably go back before someone notices we've been gone this long."

"Green? What kind of nickname is that?"

"Hey, it's still a work-in-progress, okay?"

Gaius and Vaike hoisted Lon'qu up and dragged him out of the tavern, thanking the owner as they left. The Feroxi man fell asleep while they hauled him back to the inn. Once they returned to their room, they all got situated and sat on their respective beds. Except for Lon'qu, of course, He was fast asleep. Stahl yawned as he slowly lied down.

"So, Gaius, why exactly are you so interested in who we like?"

"Blackmail."

"W-What?! What could you possibly blackmail us for?"

"Who knows?" Gaius chuckled as he turned off the lights.

* * *

"Gods, my head hurts! This cold wind isn't helping either!" Lon'qu shivered as he walked beside Lissa.

Lissa frowned, "What in Gods name did you do last night?"

"...That's the problem... I don't remember." Lon'qu sighed. "Why can't I remember a single thing?!– "

The swordsman was cut off when Gaius suddenly showed up out a no where and gave him a hearty pat on the back, "Did ya sleep well last night, Slim?"

"WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?!"

"Nothing... memorable."

"I insist that you tell me right this instant!"

Gaius pulled out his week-old lollipop and frowned since it was currently half-frozen, "Actually, I think I'll tell ya later. I'm not in the mood right now."

The thief quickened his pace until he was next to the brunette pegasus knight.

"_Gaius likes Sumia_." Someone whispered into Lon'qu's ear, sending shivers down his spine. He turned his head to see Vaike standing behind him. When he turned back around, Stahl was to his left as well.

"You need to remember this!" Stahl said, looking unusually determined. "Gaius likes Sumia. He sleeps with a teddy bear sometimes, can't go five minutes without candy, dislikes bugs, Feroxi weather– "

Lissa held up her index finger to protest, "Correction, Stahl. It's a proven fact of the universe that _everyone_ dislikes Feroxi weather. And why are you telling Lon'qu these things? Did Gaius do something?"

Stahl put his hand on Lon'qu shoulder, as if trying to reassure him of something, "I'm counting on you to remember this because there's no way that Vaike will be able to remember all these things! Trust me. It's for our own good."

"..Our... own good? Wait. Can someone _please _tell me what happened last night?!" Lon'qu asked. However, Stahl and Vaike had already run off somewhere. "...Never in my life have I ever been so confused..."

"It'll be okay, Lon'qu." Lissa gave him a sweet smile, which caused him to calm down a bit. She grabbed his now-healed hand, which caused his face to turn a little red. Lissa noticed that he was getting embarrassed and giggled softly. She looked down at their intertwined fingers before looking forward again, "So how's your hand? Is it better?"

Lon'qu nodded, "...Yes... It's much better thanks to your help."

"I see." Lissa closed her eyes and nodded, "So about last night... You were going to tell me something?"

"H-Huh? Oh. You remembered." Lon'qu nervously cleared his throat and tried to get his thoughts together. He reiterated what he had said last night, "...You see, Chrom hired me to be your bodyguard because of that assassination plot, and after we foiled their plans, you insisted that we kept walking and talking, much like what we are doing right now. I guess as we got closer, rather than protecting you because it's my job, I feel more inclined to protect you because you're my... friend. And because of that, I do such reckless things on the battlefield. I can't really help it anymore. I know it's foolish to let something like that get in the way, but– "

The princess giggled, and her face turned a light shade of red, "So basically... You care about me?"

"W-What? How can you possibly come to that conclusion!– "

"It's okay, Lon'qu. I care about you too! That's why I scolded you." Lissa grinned as she watched Lon'qu's face go through multiple shades of red. "But honestly, Lon'qu... You don't have to get so embarrassed over caring about a friend. We're best buds! And since we're best buds, we gotta stick together and watch each others' backs! Because one of these days, I'm going to become stronger, and when that day comes, I hope you'll be able to depend on me!"

Lon'qu chuckled, "I will anxiously await the day you become that strong. When that day comes, we'll be an unstoppable force on the battlefield, right?"

"Yep! We'll be able to protect _everyone_!"

"Protect everyone... That sounds... nice." Lon'qu smiled to himself. He had found himself a new goal to work towards. That and the princess had just admitted to caring about him. And his headache had vanished. It was amazing how quickly Lissa had managed to brighten his day. However, the only thing that could make his day even better was if Ferox had magically grown smaller.

"...Damn this Feroxi weather!"

* * *

A/N: This chapter ended up longer than I intended it to be, and before i knew it, Vaike got everyone to go to a tavern, which ended up making it even longer because I have no control over what my hands type once I really get into things. Then I had to do some research because I learned something very valuable today. I don't know how to write drunk people, haha! I kind of have this headcanon that Lon'qu has low alcohol tolerance, and he has even better aim while he's drunk, which is scary. I'm definitely taking some liberties with his characterization as well.

I also had to do some research because I can't remember if Gaius has given certain people nicknames yet, so I just used some I saw floating around. And _why_ Gaius, Stahl, and Vaike? Because Lon'qu has interacted with Vaike and Gaius. And why throw in Stahl instead of Gregor, you ask? Because I can't properly write Gregor dialogue. Can't do it.

I'm also sort of at a loss as to where I should take Lon'qu and Lissa's relationship right now, so the next chapter might not come that soon. Can't have them running around in circles forever, y'know.

And props to anyone who noticed the parallels between this chapter and chapter 1. Lissa was described as very reckless in the beginning, and now the tables have turned, haha. And this is random, but in all of my playthroughs so far, Lissa has been an absolute killing machine. Especially when paired up with Lon'qu. Early game AND late game, they annihilate everything. Lissa's speed and skill stats are amazing, and her magic's not bad either. Her defense is great, and at some point, she had higher strength than magic while she was a war cleric? She's just god-like. Better than MU sometimes.

And I also want to thank everyone who has stuck with this story for this long. It's not the best story, and I'm not the best writer, but I really appreciate all the reviews/favorites/follows. 'Til next time!

**_starxmoon2091: You're anon, so I can't reply to you directly uwu But I just wanted to say that my name for this ship is "Princess and the Grump". But when I'm lazy, I just say "LonLissa"._**


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